What The Water Brings In
by Jordiscy
Summary: After days of torrential rain and a water main burst, Downtown Charleston floods and traps Dr. Green and Sang within the Academy Hospital. Amazing things seem to wash up in the water, and Sang is the only one who may be able to pick up the pieces.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: This is being written shortly after the major flooding in Texas, so that's where the inspiration came from. I am not aware of the flood prevention systems in Charleston, SC, so I apologize in advance if the details of this story do not line up with real life.**

 **The Other Side of Envy was the latest book released when this story was written. I try my best to keep the details of the canon consistent with my fan fiction, but future books by C.L. Stone will probably have the details of a certain someone's past completel different from what I am imagining and sharing here.**

 **I do not have any claim to the character or intellectual property of The Academy: Ghost Bird series. This is fan fiction and there is no financial gain made, nor will any be sought. This is for entertainment purposes only.**

The discordant wail sounded from my chest, startling me so my fork clattered onto the plate in front of me. The sound was sudden and loud, engineered to grab attention immediately. It did its job well.

The obnoxious tone came from everywhere inside the hospital cafeteria, including Dr. Green's lap under the table between us. We were just finishing up our lunch. Like choreographed performers, everyone in the facility, including myself, dug for their cellphones from where the electronics were stashed. Pavlov would have been proud. The phones came out of pockets, belt clips, purses, and in my case, my bra. Everyone's fingers simultaneously pushed buttons or tapped on glass screens to make the alarms stop before taking the time to read the message the noise was trying to bring to our attention.

 _Severe thunderstorm warning for this area til 3:45 PM EST. Check local media. –NWS_

"Oh no. Not another one," Dr. Green groaned as he returned his purple-cased iPhone back to the pocket of his khakis. "We're waterlogged as it is. Were _you_ jumping up and down on your bed in nothing but your underwear this morning for a rain dance?" the sandy blonde haired, green eyed man accused me.

"No, Dr. Sean. That ritual is to summon snow and is saved for school days. Today is Saturday," I managed to say in complete seriousness before taking a sip of water. The giggles overtook me when he was rendered speechless, but soon joined me with a full bout of laughter. I was sure we were both trying to imagine the reactions of North and Luke if I did indulge in such a silly superstition. Having spent the night in North's trailer with the Taylor Brothers, I was sure North would yell about falling off the bed and hurting myself, whereas Luke would probably strip and join me.

The entire state of South Carolina had been battered by strings of thunderstorms almost daily for the past week and a half in some freak weather phenomenon. The ground was already saturated and could absorb no more rain, so our area had been victim to flash flooding. As the boys drove me around, I noticed the abnormally high levels of the rivers and creeks. Even the ditch behind Nathan's back yard fence was full of muddy water.

Our laughter died out when Dr. Green's phone chimed, and he fished it back out to check the text message.

"Well, Pookie, looks like administration is letting all non-essential staff head home before the storm hits. Do you want to go home to ride this one out?" he asked as he set his phone on the table and opened up a weather app to check the latest radar maps.

"Are you essential staff?" I countered with another question.

"Today, I am. Even if I wasn't, I would still want to stay here. A lot of the nurses and office people have young kids to care for and would rather be home with them, which I don't blame them for. Being a bachelor myself, I don't have much to go home to right now, and I'm certainly more useful here when we're shorthanded," he explained. As lonely as it made him sound out to be, he made sense. It was a decision I could support. "But family first, and that means you, Pookie. If you want to get out of here, I'll take you out."

Before I could reply, his phone started vibrating, dancing on the tabletop, and singing 'One-eyed, one-horned, flying, purple people eater,' as a ringtone. A picture of Kota with his nose in a textbook and his glasses on the end of his nose illuminated the screen.

"Kota is calling you," I said with a grin.

"An astute observation!" he sarcastically praised as he answered my neighbor's call. "Talk to me."

"Hi, Kota!" I chirped.

Dr. Green beamed and relayed my message. "Kota says hello."

While he listened to the other end, I finished a few more bites of my chicken salad. Dr. Green scolded me about my eating habits (bordering on a lack thereof) just before the emergency alert, and I did not want him to worry about another thing if I could prevent it.

"Victor is in the area. Do you want a ride?" he asked me.

Every phone in the hospital screamed with another alert before I could answer. Sean winced and pulled his away from his head before he went deaf. We both checked the message sent out by the National Weather Service with a quick scan. Flash flooding warning this time.

"Or we can have Silas swing by in a canoe," Dr. Green offered with a smirk.

A woman in nursing scrubs caught the corner of my eye, drawing my attention for a moment. She quickly ended a call on her own cell phone and shoved it into her purse. Her belongings were gathered hurriedly before nearly sprinting out of the cafeteria and toward the elevators.

My imagination conjured up multiple scenarios to explain her behavior, from a child at home who was deathly afraid of thunder, to sheep in their pens that would drown in flood waters if she did not get them relocated in time.

I had nowhere to be. There was no one for me to rescue in a thunderstorm. As a matter of fact, I would probably be in the way. As adventurous as being rescued in a canoe sounded to be, it was unnecessary and selfish. Silas could use the canoe to save someone trapped by high waters, or deliver formula to a family with a hungry infant. I was not a trained professional, but I could certainly be of more use around the hospital with a skeleton crew. I could make sure the bathrooms were fully stocked with toilet paper and hand soap.

"Sang wants to stay here with me, Kota," Dr. Green answered on my behalf. "She wants to play nurse for a few more hours while half our staff clocks out." He must have read my thoughts on my face. I pushed my bottom lip against my teeth in embarrassment. Mr. Blackbourne said he wanted to focus on developing a poker face with me in our violin class. While being able to read practically every thought and emotion on my face like an open book helped me keep honest with the boys, he believed the habit could work to my disadvantage more often than not.

I mouthed a silent 'Thank you' to Dr. Green for understanding me and passing my wishes to the rest of the guys. He winked at me in response.

"Kota says to not float away, and he misses you," he said just after ending the call.

I blushed slightly; I could feel the heat in my cheeks. I missed Kota too.

Gathering the trash and tray, I asked, "What can I do to help out?" The Doctor checked the time on his phone before putting it away back in his hip pocket. "We still have some time for lunch. Your overnight bag is still in my car, right?"

I nodded as we stood and made our way to dispose of our garbage and stow our trays. Ever since Gabriel's birthday, I made a habit of always having a day's worth of clothing and toiletries available practically everywhere I went. My life beside these nine guys had become rather unpredictable, and the preparedness had already helped me out of a few binds.

"Let's race against the rain to my car and back inside. I want to see how capricious Mother Nature is feeling today."

We stood side by side in the entryway of the cafeteria, looking at each other. Dr. Green waggled his eyebrows at me with a goofy grin. I returned the smile with my bottom lip in my teeth. "Ready?" I giggled. Both of our postures shifted forward, one foot planting slightly in front of the other. "Set…" Our knees bent and we focused on the door to the stairwell; we did not have time in a race to wait for an elevator.

I sprinted at full speed, not bothering to yell, "Go!" over my shoulder until I was a few yards away from the door to the stairs. As I yanked on the handle, I heard Dr. Green yell, "Cheater!" Halfway down the first flight, I noticed he was already gaining on me despite his brown lace ups did not have the same traction as my tennis shoes on the linoleum. "We're racing the rain, Sang! Not each other!"

"Yes we are!" I called up to him. "You just didn't get the memo!"

He caught up to me when I reached the main floor of the building; I made sure to pay attention to the big signs by the doors to track which floor I was on so I did not wind up in another scary hospital basement. The last time I did that, Volto manipulated me into giving him sensitive information while Greg was on a manhunt to stick a knife into my gut. Best not to revisit those experiences.

My hand was on the handle to the door out of the stairwell when his covered mine. His other hand wrapped around my waist. "Caught you," he cooed into my ear as the tails of his white lab coat floated down to our legs.

If my heart rate wasn't already elevated from running down a couple flights of stairs, it would have been from the proximity and contact the Doctor was giving me right then. I attempted to cover up my flustered state with some giggling. "Dr. Sean! This is supposed to be a race, not a game of tag!"

"Sorry you didn't get the memo." His lips brushed against the strands of my hair that had escaped the clip at the back of my head. His breath blew across my earlobe, which made my side tickle and buckle in on itself. I contorted weirdly and blushed profusely, not understanding how that sensation worked as I wiggled out of Dr. Green's half embrace and slipped through the door.

Closing the door quickly, I cringed when it came across more as a slam. I leaned on the wood panel with the handle poking into my back as I gathered my composure back to myself.

Little taps sounded by my head, and I turned to see Dr. Green's green eyes sparkling with amusement through the rectangular peep window above the handle. "You okay, Miss Sang?" he asked with a chuckle.

"Look who's cheating now!" I accused while pressing my finger against the pane at the level of his nose.

"If we all cheat, that makes it fair in the end. Doesn't it?"

"Nuh uh. I'm the only one allowed to cheat. Ask Nathan. Or Luke," I argued through the door. Well, the guys usually _tolerated_ my cheat tactics at fun and games instead of allowing it, but we all had a silent understanding that I needed a handicap at some of the more physical competitions. Besides, the boys always managed to counter my cheats well enough without resorting to cheating themselves. In the end, it was all fun and amusing, even if I did wind up losing nearly every game anyways.

Dr. Green chuckled more at me as I pulled open the door for him. We walked side by side, shoulders brushing as we made our way to the main entrance. Every few steps, one of us would rush ahead a step. The other would immediately catch up and try to gain more ground a few paces later to repeat the process. We were jogging and openly laughing with each other when we got to the automatic doors. The lady at the information desk watched us like we were children and snorted, amused at our antics.

We looked to the sky once outside. Edging to where the covered drop-off zone ended to reveal open sky, we saw the line of black clouds like wall closing in upon the city. The wind had already picked up, throwing the loose tresses of my hair and the Doctor's sandy blonde curls around. The rain had not yet started, but we only had minutes.

Dr. Green took my hand in his and intertwined our fingers together. "Run," he said excitedly, and we shot out into the parking lot as fast as our feet could carry us. His dark sedan was parked at the far end of the lot. We both agreed when we arrived earlier in the day that we were both healthy individuals and could survive the walk across the expanse of asphalt to leave the closer spots open for patients and the elderly. It made for our race to be all the more challenging.

 _Too_ challenging.

We were two rows away when the downpour came upon us as a curtain, drenching us before we reached the car. Within seconds, our hair hung limply in strings over our eyes and stuck to our faces. Our clothes soaked and clung to our skin, but we didn't care. We were having too much fun.

He motioned for us to go to opposite sides of the car, and I obeyed so we could open up both rear doors and lean our heads into the shelter of the cabin. Our eyes caught and reflected the ecstatic joy we shared. Words were not needed to know we were happy in each other's company.

"Put your phone in your bag, Pookie. There's less chance of water damage if it's bundled in your clothes and zipped up."

My hand slipped through the collar of my blouse and into the cup of my bra without reservation; Dr. Green already knew where I kept my cell phone, and I could not fish it out surreptitiously without turning back into the rain and chance ruining it. I had destroyed enough iPhones in the past six months alone, much to the dismay of Victor's wallet. A little propriety could be sacrificed in that moment.

My good intentions toward Victor's generosity did not stop Sean from watching, or his eyes from dilating, though. He had to clear his throat after I buried my pink-cased phone in the little gym bag and zipped it closed. "Ready to head back?" he asked.

I clutched my bag to my chest and nodded. My cheeks were aching from all the smiling.

He counted to three, and we slammed the doors shut to run through the deluge. When we arrived back at the covered drive, water was pouring off our eyebrows and noses in rivulets. His arm slipped around my shoulders and guided me not to the sliding glass doors, but one of the pillars supporting the overhang. After slipping his own bag to the ground at the base of the pillar, he took mine and dropped it too. His hands came up, threading under my soaked hair and cupped around the sides of my neck. The line of my jaw was feathered by his thumbs as he pulled and nudged me so my back was pressed up against the concrete column. Sandwiched between his dripping frame and the pillar, his lips crashed against mine before I could take a breath.

Our lips fought against each other's, vying for dominance. My hands clutched to the front of his white coat to further anchor myself to him as the rain drowned out all other sounds except for our labored breathing through our noses. I started off with Greek kisses, first having to concentrate to form my mouth properly. My mind quickly lost focus and surrendered to the passion blooming between us, and I discovered kissing was actually a lot more fun and fulfilling once I switched my brain off. There was no time to analyze, predict, or plan when submitting to this impulse, and I found a natural rhythm with Dr. Sean for our kiss to dance to.

He pulled away from me, and we stared into each other's eyes, panting like we stole each other's breaths away.

"Sang, I…"

Nope! This was not the time for talking, and I communicated this by yanking on his white doctor's coat until his mouth came right back to mine. Our lips did not align properly at first, so I found myself trapping his bottom lip lightly between my teeth and sucking on it. He grunted before tangling his fingers into my hair at the roots to tilt my head for better access. His tongue begged for entrance at the part of my lips, but I denied him by pushing my own out to meet his.

I was caressing his tongue with mine, his feet inched forward until his hips made contact with my hips, when we were interrupted by a shout.

"Hey! Help! I need some help here!"


	2. Chapter 2

"Hey! Help! I need some help here!"

Our faces flew apart. I jumped, startled, and at the same time Dr. Green's arms wrapped around my shoulders and squeezed me tight into him, turning me protectively away from the voice. When the words the voice hollered at us processed, we looked to the source to see a tall male stumbling through the rain, completely drenched to show his muscular frame under Dickies and a flannel button up. On his shoulders in a fireman's carry was another figure, limp, unconscious, and equally wet.

"Sang. Go get a wheelchair just inside the door and a neck brace from the welcome desk," Dr. Green ordered before rushing back into the rain to meet the man and the person he rescued.

In a split second, the most efficient plan for my task was derived and put into action. My wet tennis shoes squeaked and squelched on the linoleum floor as I nearly crashed into the rounded counter of the welcome desk and scared the lady behind it. "Neck brace!" I shouted.

A white, plastic collar I recognized from television dramas when someone got carted away in an ambulance was placed in my outstretched hand. Reception must have stocked them with quick and ready access for emergencies like this one. With a hasty "Thank you!" I turned and ran back to the door, grabbing a wheelchair on the way after I tossed the brace into the seat. After my hand wrapped around the handles and pushed, I groaned in frustration when the large wheels did not turn. Precious moments were wasting away as I was forced to circle around the chair and release the locks.

Dr. Green and the stranger had the unconscious person laying in the middle of the drive. Now they were on their back, I could clearly make out the person was a woman. She wore black slacks and a printed blouse that prevented us from seeing too many details of her undergarments with it being drenched. Sean crouched directly above her head, his hands clamped around her ears to keep her neck in a stable and neutral position. The lady's lips were blue.

The man who brought her to us kneeled at her side. His fingers were pressed to the side of her grey pallor neck. "I ain't no expert," he said with a heavy South Carolinian accent, "but I can feel a pulse. I reckon it's weak, though."

Dr. Green look up at me. "Did you happen to grab a resuscitation mask too?" he asked quickly. I frantically shook my head no. Panic tried to overtake me; my lack of forethought was going to cost this woman her life! Even though I had an idea as to what he referred to, I was not sure what a resuscitation mask was. That was the bulbous bag thingy paramedics squeezed over someone's face, right? It didn't matter. I didn't have one.

"I'll do the honors," the stranger said before lowering his face and sealing his lips over her blue ones in a kiss.

No. That wasn't a kiss. His hand held her nose closed as he breathed on her behalf, blowing air from his own lungs into hers. I was mesmerized by her chest that rose in conjunction with his exhales.

"Miss Sang?" Dr. Green called with his eyes adamantly observing his patient and the color slowly returning to her complexion.

I snapped out of my stupor. "Yes, Dr. Green?"

"Put the collar on her." It was a command with no room to question.

I applied the brakes to the wheels of the chair, lest it roll away into the storm, and took up the collar from the seat. My jeans protected my knees from the bite of the asphalt when I knelt by her head on the other side of the woman from where the man bent over her.

Sean kept a firm hold of her head as he instructed me to slip the back flap under her neck and secure the Velcro to the rigid front half until her chin could not move about. I wanted to bask in a sense of accomplishment for half a moment, but I was denied the opportunity when the lady suddenly started thrashing her arms and legs around, startling me so I fell back onto my butt.

Her throat sounded hoarse as she gasped and gulped for air in between bouts of coughing. My eyes met the man's dark blue ones over the lady's flailing arms; he was thrown back onto his rear just I had when she returned to consciousness.

"Whoa there, ma'am. You're okay now. Can you hear me?" Dr. Green said in an attempt to calm her down and continue his assessment.

She screeched like a banshee, her hands clawing at the brace around her neck. Full blown panic overtook her. Dr. Green grabbed one hand to keep it from removing the collar. I held onto her other arm, and the man lunged to lie over her legs before she managed to hurt herself even more than she already was from her original accident.

"Ma'am!" Sean barked loudly. "You're at a hospital!" he managed to interject in between her wails. "I'm a doctor trying to help you!"

Some of the key words must have broken through to her because I could feel the muscles in her arm I was practically sitting on relax. After a few moments of the four of us catching our breaths, she managed to speak. "Okay. I'm done." Her voice was scratchy. "You can let me go now."

The gentleman and I released her, backing up to give her space and let her rearrange her limbs until she was a little more comfortable. Dr. Green let go of her other hand last after he measured her pulse against the second hand of his watch. "Welcome back, Ms…?"

"Brown," she croaked. "Jacqueline Brown."

"Lovely to meet you, Jacqueline." He peered into her eyes while shining a button light on his key ring into her pupils. "How about we get you up off this dirty driveway and into your chariot?" Dr. Green asked and beckoned to the wheel chair behind me.

Jaqueline's head twitched; she must have tried to nod, but the collar prevented her from moving too far. She huffed in exasperation before squirming to get her legs under her.

The other man ceased her struggles by picking her up under her knees and shoulders, lifting and depositing her weight easily into the seat. I stood myself and took my position behind the chair after she was settled.

After asking if she was in any pain or had any immediate concerns, he asked if she remembered how she became injured.

She answered as I started wheeling her into the hospital wing, Dr. Green walking beside Ms. Brown, and the gentleman stranger on her other side. "I'm not sure. I was walking to the bus stop, and my feet got swept out from under me. I must have been knocked out when I fell."

I looked to the man who carried her to us in the rain, realizing he could probably fill in the gaps. "I'm sorry I haven't asked earlier, but what's your name?"

"Johnny Galloway," he answered. "A water main broke nearby just before the rain started. The surge from the ruptured pipe is what knocked you over, ma'am. I was stopped at a light when it happened and fished you out. Looks like you drowned."

What color that had returned to her fled again as she turned white at his explanation, "Th… thank you," she shakily stuttered.

Sean stopped in his tracks and reached over Ms. Brown to grab Mr. Galloway by the shoulder. "Was anyone else hurt?"

He shook his head. "Not when I was there. I can't rightly account for anymore since then. Though, the entire area is flooded. No one around here is going anywhere for a while."

As we passed the welcome desk, the woman behind it eyed Jaqueline with concern. "Shall I page the ER for you?" she asked Dr. Green.

"No need, Susan," he replied. "That's on the other side of campus. We can take care of Ms. Brown just find here in our wing."

Susan tapped away at her computer and picked up a corded phone receiver. "Very well, Doctor," she answered professionally. "I'll let them know you're on your way."

"Thanks, Susan." Dr. Green flashed her an award-winning smile that shined through his limp, wet hair and dripping clothes.

The four of us trekked down a hallway with my sneakers still squeaking with every step. We went through a few sets of swinging doors and a pair of motion-triggered automatics until we came into a large room where one long wall was lined with numerous glass-fronted cubicles. Each cubicle had a hospital bed and various medical machines ready to be utilized. A scrub-clad nurse bustled about within the island of counters in the middle of the room, organizing papers and tapping on various computer keyboards.

Sean took us to the first glass room, and I wheeled Jaqueline right in. Johnny stood just outside the sliding glass door, rubbing the back of his neck like he didn't know where he belonged.

"Do you think you can hop up onto the bed for me?" Dr. Green asked while offering her his hand for support after locking the wheels on the chair. She tried to lean forward to comply, but whether it was her injuries, the collar around her neck throwing her off balance, or a combination of the two, she couldn't quite make it. Johnny pushed past me and slipped his arms under her armpits before anyone could object, easily lifting her once more and settling her onto the bed.

Dr. Green set upon adjusting it so she could sit upright. "Nurse Sang? Grab that cart around the corner so we can take Jacqueline's vitals, please."

I nodded and pulled the wheelchair out of the little room to make more room inside and quickly found the small wheeled cart full of various instruments, including a blood pressure cuff and a hospital grade thermometer. The cart was pushed in, and Sean immediately grabbed for the cuff. Johnny sat on the armchair on the far side of the bed, watching Jaqueline intently.

"Thank you, Nurse Sang. Now, can you go get a clipboard from Nurse Cindy out there so we can start the red tape?" Sean politely instructed as he secured the blue Velcro around Ms. Brown's arm.

"Yes, Doctor!" I chirped. I was elated I was being useful. I was serving a purpose and helping someone at the same time. Maybe I could consider nursing for a day job, especially if I got to work alongside Sean every day.

Cindy already had the appropriate paperwork clipped to a board with a pen ready for me for new patient registration. She handed the bundle to me with an encouraging smile before returning to her own work behind the counter.

"Jesus. Please. Call me Jackie," Ms. Brown moaned after the blood pressure cuff released its squeeze on her arm and before Dr. Green popped the stick of the thermometer under her tongue. He called out a pair of numbers to me, and I found a spot in the middle of the page on the clipboard for me to record them. I filled in her first and last name on the top of the sheet before Sean followed up with her temperature for me to write down. I thought it was nice for the paperwork to include a spot for preferred nickname, to which I neatly wrote in 'Jackie.'

Dr. Green continued to measure her vitals and stated the results to me to write down. He was slipping the O2 clip over her fingertip when she asked, "Where am I?"

Johnny's brows knit in worry. Sean smiled warmly at her. "You're in a hospital. You're not in any danger," he cooed comfortingly. "Let me finish up here, and we can get you out of those wet clothes."

Her eyes rolled in annoyance. "I know that much, Doctor. Which hospital?"

"Don't worry about insurance, Jackie. We'll take care of all that headache for you."

Her scratchy voice nearly growled. "Answer the damned question. Which hospital am I at?"

Sean blinked repeatedly, surprised. "Cooper Memorial Medical Center," he said matter-of-factly.

Her eyes transformed from lucid and alert to glassy and empty as panic swept over her once more. "No no no no…" she started chanting, her shoulders rocking back and forth as her legs writhed, undoing the sheets from the corners of the bed. Her hands clenched into fists at the side rails so tight her knuckles were turning white. "No no no!" With each reiteration of the single syllable, the intensity and volume increased until she was yelling, screaming, screeching the word. Her limbs followed and started thrashing and flailing, knocking over the cart so the disposable covers for the thermometer and packets of alcohol wipes spilled all over the floor.

I pressed myself against the counter with the hand washing sink with the clipboard pressed to my chest protectively. My entire body shook in nerves and fear. What had made Jackie fall back into a violent panic attack? The name of the hospital? What about this hospital sparked such a reaction in her? I couldn't even begin to guess.

Nurse Cindy was rushing around the counter at the commotion. Dr. Green hurriedly opened up a drawer by my hip and pulled out a syringe. "Get one of those and open it!" he barked at me while pointing to the spilled squares of alcohol swabs on the floor. I quickly complied, ripping a corner and ignoring the pungent odor of the disinfectant wafting straight into my nose.

Mr. Galloway's tall frame was practically laying on top of Jackie to restrain her and keep her from falling off the bed. He had her arms pinned to her side as he bear hugged her around her middle. "There!" Sean pointed at an exposed spot on her arm, and I lunged forward to wipe the little, moist napkin on her skin before leaping back out of the way. Dr. Green pulled off the cover to the syringe with his teeth before plunging the sharp end into the patch of clean flesh and pressed the plunger, emptying the liquid into arm.

A few seconds later, Jackie's fighting gradually slowed down and lost the strength behind it. Her wails became little whimpers until her eyes drifted closed and she succumbed to a sedated sleep.

Johnny, Sean, and I were all panting for breath again, trying to calm our own heart rates down.

"Don't ever tell me my job isn't thrilling," Dr. Sean quipped with his eyes sparkling at my own.

 **A/N: I don't have any education in medicine, so I apologize if Jackie's symptoms don't mesh up with real life. I did get to ask some chin-strokingly interesting questions to fellow birds with this chapter, though, like how the Academy hospital is situated (as its own wing within a larger hospital complex was the conclusion), to what boys in Team Blackbourne wear a watch. Did you know the canon has Mr. Blackbourne wearing a silver watch? It's amazing how many little details I just skim right over when reading CL's books.**

 **I like stars and comments. They make me smile and excited to work on the next chapter. ^.^**


	3. Chapter 3

"Sang? Why don't you go ahead and change into some dry clothes?" Dr. Green suggested after the lot of us managed to gather our wits to ourselves once more. I had just righted the vitals cart and returned all the little loose bits into their appropriate little baskets. Johnny was kind enough to assist me so the time needed for the task was cut in half. "Do you mind dropping off my bag in my office?"

"Not at all," I smiled kindly, but it soon fell from my face once I remembered where our bags were. "Uhm, we left our bags outside." I pushed my bottom lip against my teeth in embarrassment.

I didn't know it was possible for a fully grown man to giggle (19 was considered to be a man in this day and age, right?). Sean managed to do so rather well, and it wasn't creepy like one would imagine it to be. "I bet they are!" he said with a grin that told of no other emotion than pure mirth, even as he pulled out blankets and a hospital gown for the cabinets for Jackie. "We got a little distracted, didn't we?"

Johnny shifted back and forth on his feet and rubbed the back of his neck. The poor man probably thought Sean was referring to him and his daring rescue. The wink Dr. Green gave me confirmed my suspicions he was referring to our own… erm… _recreational_ _activities_ instead. "Will you be okay by yourself for a bit?" the doctor asked with genuine concern.

Before I could answer, Johnny jumped in. "I can escort the little lady out to the door," he volunteered.

Sean nodded at him and held out his hand. They shook as Sean thanked him both for being a Good Samaritan and for keeping me company.

I grabbed the wheelchair to return to the lobby since we were going there anyways. Johnny fell into step beside me as we headed back the way we came.

Or at least we tried to. Hospitals were mazes to anyone who did not work in them, and this wing proved to be no different. We were stopped twice by badge-access only security doors, forcing us to detour and ask for directions once at a nurse's station. The kind nurse wrote down which way to go on a sticky note, but his handwriting was illegible, making the directions useless. Johnny and I eventually wound up outside from an unfamiliar door, so we circled around a portion of the medical center in the parking lot, running through the pelting rain until we came back to the covered drop off zone of the Academy wing. Loud booms of thunder and bright bolts of lightning punctuated our adventure through the storm. I caught a brief glimpse of a section of parking lot submerged under the water; the lake it was under rippled, waved, and extended over the landscaping surrounding the campus and onto the roads on the other side.

Sean's and my overnight bags were exactly where we dropped them. I left the wheelchair in Mr. Galloway's charge as I gathered the pair of gym bags. They were nearly dry; the rain did not reach the spot they were dropped. The straps were slung over one shoulder, and we walked back inside.

After Johnny parked the wet wheelchair next to the others, Susan at the Welcome Desk gaped at us in surprise. "Oh my heavens! I didn't see you two sneak out! What were you doing outside in that dreadful weather to begin with?" She fussed like a mother hen.

Johnny and I exchanged guilty looks with each other like two kids who were caught with hands in the cookie jar. "We got lost and had to come the roundabout way, ma'am", he answered.

Susan huffed. "My word. _Children_. How I envy the vitality of youth."

I quickly examined Johnny from head to his steel toed boots. He didn't look like a child to me. He had crow's feet wrinkles at the corners of his eyes. He probably earned those from smiling and laughing frequently. There were also a few strands of white at his temples mixing in with the rest of his light brown hair. I guessed him to be about forty years old.

He tipped his head in a respectful, yet casual farewell to Susan as we walked toward the elevators.

"Thank you for the tour of the hospital," he joked.

I blushed. "Thank you for accompanying me on that adventure, dear sir," I quipped right back. "What are you going to do now?" I asked, concerned and curious at the same time.

"I'm not rightly sure. I figure I'll find a waiting room or the cafeteria for a nap. I ain't going anywhere until that pipe gets fixed, and it probably won't get started on 'til this storm finishes up." He didn't look as bummed out about his situation as I thought one would usually be for being so inconvenienced. Johnny must have been a natural optimist.

"May I have your phone number?" I asked. "I can call or text you updates on Ms. Brown's location and her condition. That is, if you're interested." Hopefully, I was reading his concern for her wellbeing correctly, and thought I could not do much to help him out, I could at least keep him informed.

Johnny dug through the back pocket of his work pants and pulled out a phone in a heavy duty protective case. The screen did not come on when he pushed the buttons. He gave up after a full minute of fidgeting and tinkering. "Looks like we have a casualty after all."

"I'm so sorry."

"Not your fault, Darlin'. I do want to take you up on that offer, though. If you get any news on Ms. Jackie, you come find me in the cafeteria, okay?"

I nodded, happy I could be of use. I knew for certain where the cafeteria was located and gave him clear directions. He waved before heading the right way, and I took the elevator down for the office Sean called his own.

The only other spot within the hospital I knew the location to was that office. A sigh of relief escaped me as the anxiety lifted when I saw the familiar mural of a window painted on the cinder blocks. Gabriel's talent assured me I found the right place, even if I already knew where it was.

The pair of gym bags were placed on the center table carefully to not knock over the piles of manila folders on top. I was shivering by the time I pulled the zipper to my own open. The cold of the rain soaked into every part of me finally sank into my bones, making my teeth rattle and chatter with my shivers. The excitement from playful antics with Sean followed by the tension with Ms. Jackie and tailed by running through the rain again with Mr. Johnny must have finally wore off, adrenalin spent. My fingers were shaking as I pulled my phone from among my clothes. The aftershock nerves caught up to me and paired with the chill from the fall rain.

I had forgotten my phone was not on me since Dr. Green's car. The iPhone in its pink case was not ruined. Good thing nothing bad had happened to me for me to need it. A few text messages were waiting for me. The want to get into a fresh set of clothes took priority.

My options were to quickly change in the office or to find a restroom for guaranteed privacy. Fatigue was catching up to me, so I figured I could afford to by lazy just this once and stay in the office. Changing in bathroom stalls was a cramped feat anyways. I locked the door, just in case Dr. Green came down unannounced. If he did, hearing the keys to unlock it should have been enough warning for me to duck behind a chair or the filing cabinet. Or I could put my modesty on hold if he were to walk in on me; most of the guys had already seen me in various stages of undress. It was bound to happen more.

I quickly peeled off my soggy layers and slipped into my dry set of clothes. Standing there speculating left the window of opportunity open wider with each passing second. The longer I stood there thinking about it, the greater the chance someone was to walk in. Dressed in Luke's light blue button up shirt and a black skirt, I sighed in relief when tempting fate produced no one to burst in on me as I changed. I stuffed my wet clothes into the bag, but left the zipper open to not trap the moisture inside and promote mold growth. As soon as I got home, the clothes were getting a cycle through the laundry.

I sat on one of the couches tucked up against the wall and curled my feet under me. The smell of moss and berries was faint around me, letting me know this was where Victor typically sat when he was here. I snuggled into the upholstery, taking comfort in the little things that reminded me of the pianist.

I smiled widely when I saw he had texted me.

 **Victor:** _Stay dry, Princess._

 **Sang:** _I am now. Stay safe and don't drive in this mess._

Other messages were waiting for me too.

 **Silas:** _I have a boat prepared if you change your mind._

 **Sang:** _Thank you. I will keep it in mind, but keep it for people who need it. You will be the first to know if I need rescuing._

Silas immediately replied.

 **Silas:** _Row row row your boat. Gently down the street._

I giggled out loud until my nose snorted.

 **North:** _Sang, baby. Are you okay out there?_

 **Sang** _ **:**_ _I'm just fine. I'm already helping out a drowning victim instead of being in your way._

North replied quickly too.

 **North:** _You are never in my way._

 **Sang:** _But I'm more useful here. I miss you, North._

 **North:** _I miss you too._

While I was tapping on my phone, I figured I might as well report in to Kota.

 **Sang:** _A water main pipe has broken close to the hospital. The flooding is impassable here. I'm keeping busy._

 **Kota:** _You will probably be stuck there longer than anticipated. I'm sorry._

 **Sang:** _It's not your fault. I'm more worried about you and everyone else._

 **Kota** _ **:**_ _We are all okay. Thank you for checking in on us. Listen to Dr. Green. I miss you._

 **Sang** _ **:**_ _I will. I miss you too._

Speaking of Dr. Green…

 **Sang:** _Do I need to bring your dry clothes up to you?_

 **Dr. Green** _ **:**_ _No need. I found some fresh scrubs for myself._

 **Sang:** _Okay. Call me if you need an extra set of hands. Don't work too hard._

 **Dr. Green** : _You do realize I'm a doctor, right? Doctors need to work hard in a hospital. It's in the job description._

I had dry clothes on. Sean had fresh clothes. Jackie was probably still sedated with a hospital gown on. That only left…

I shot up to standing, suddenly determined to accomplish this new mission of mine. It wasn't fair for Mr. Johnny Galloway to have to sacrifice his entire afternoon for saving Ms. Jackie's life and have to suffer it in sopping wet clothes.

The Academy boys were prepared for anything, and this office was a part of their main territory. If I searched thoroughly enough, I was sure to find a set of clothes somewhere. My. Galloway seemed to be roughly North's height…

One of the drawers in the filing cabinet had a change of toothpaste green scrubs and the basic toiletries for a typical guy. I blushed when I realized the plastic shopping bag shoved all the way in the back had a package of sanitary napkins, obviously intended for me. I was amazed at the level of forethought they had when looking out for me, even in the awkward things.

A sticky note stating the scrubs were used was put on the front of the drawer to remind me to restock before someone else needed a fresh change and was sorely disappointed. The scrubs were clutched to my chest and I left the office after making sure my phone was secure in my bra cup.

 **A/N: Okay, so it's a filler chapter. Nothing significant happens, but it helps Sang get from point A in the plot to point B. Plus, hopefully we got a giggle in there. Okay, maybe a snort. A quirk of the lips? Something?!**

 **Stay tuned, because I'll be dropping the doozy in the next chapter.**


	4. Chapter 4

The elevator doors opened with a friendly _ding_ , releasing me to the span of open space before the archway of the campus cafeteria. My sandals made no sound on the short pile carpet of the dining room. I found Mr. Johnny sitting at one of the tables, facing away from me. He gazed at a wall-mounted television screen that was tuned to a news channel covering the local flooding. His shoulders were hunched over, and when I leaned to the side, I could see a steaming cup of tea cradled in between his hands.

The poor man looked lonely despite me being in his company not even an hour prior. I wouldn't say he was a friend at that point, but I did have concerns for him and his situation. He performed quite the selfless act in bringing Ms. Brown, but he still wound up with the short end of the stick. I wanted to show him some hospitality to make up for his circumstances, and maybe he would not leave the situation feeling bitter.

"Mr. Johnny?" I called when I was almost directly behind him.

He yelped as he flung himself around, nearly tipping the chair he was sitting in over. I squeaked and leapt backward, squeezing the folded clothes tighter to my chest. Johnny's arms and legs flailed in circles to desperately gather his balance back to him before he fell to the floor.

I should have reached out and grabbed him to help, but I couldn't muster up the courage to touch someone. Only my boys were the exception.

Johnny managed to catch himself and clutched his chest right over his heart as he caught his breath. " _Dad gum!_ You scared the tar out of me!"

A part of me wanted to giggle at his choice of expletives, but the bigger portion winced with shame. "I'm sorry." Maybe my habit to constantly tread lightly was a bad habit. To reinforce my apology, I held out the folded scrubs toward him as a peace offering.

Johnny blinked at the bundle a few times in a row to process the gesture.

I blushed, feeling awkward standing in the middle of an eatery with my arms held out as far as they could to a speechless man I had never met before today. "I… I'm sorry," I stuttered and quickly started trying to think up excuses and mindless rambles to chase away the shame and tension building in the silence. "I'm pretty sure these belong to Dr. Green. You're certainly taller than him, so they will probably be a little small for you. I can just go put them back if you don't want them…"

My elbows were just beginning to bend back to me when Johnny's mouth curled into a warm smile. "Thank you, Miss Sang. You're too kind. I'm touched." He stood up and pushed his chair in under the table before taking the bundle of clothing from me. I purposely prevented our hands from touching and was successful. He held the material away from his body so the dampness from his current outfit wouldn't ruin the dry set. "Even if they're a size short for me, I wouldn't mind walking around in highwater pants for a few hours. It's better than catching pneumonia from being wet as a dog and sitting in this freezing air conditioning."

My body shivered at the thought. The hospital cafeteria did always manage to keep the thermostat really low no matter the time of year. Maybe I should start keeping a sweater in the office.

Johnny asked me to keep an eye on his tea while he went off to the bathroom to change, so I took the seat on the opposite side from where he sat. After a few moments lost in my thoughts, I pulled my phone out of my bra and shot a text to Sean.

 **Sang:** _I should have asked permission first, but I gave the spare scrubs in the filing cabinet in your office to Mr. Galloway to wear._

 **Dr. Green:** _Permission granted._

Not even a moment passed when he texted me again.

 **Dr. Green:** _I have a moment free. Where are you?_

 **Sang:** _Cafeteria._

I spotted Johnny making his way back with his old clothes twisted from being wrung out, but still obviously damp. They were in a loose bundle in his arms. I immediately sent another text.

 **Sang:** _Can you bring one of those Patient Belonging's bags, please?_

 **Dr. Green:** _10-4._

Johnny came up to the table and dropped his wet clothes into one of the empty chairs at an adjacent side of the square seating before reaching up and stretching. I quickly looked away when the hem of the shirt rode up and exposed an inch of his torso. The scrubs were indeed a size too small for him.

"Oh! That feel so much better. Thank you, Darlin'." He twisted from side to side to continue his stretching. His hair was sticking out in every direction, which was completely different than the still wet hair he was sporting before he went to go change.

"What happened to your hair?" I asked to alleviate my curiosity.

His hands ruffled his short, brown locks until it was even messier than before. "I stuck my head under the hand dryer in the men's room. It warmed me right up." He grinned goofily, accentuating the crow's feet at the corners of his eyes.

Johnny was holding his elbow tight against his collar to stretch his shoulder when Dr. Green approached, a white and plastic bag clutched in his hands. The two men locked eyes and froze in their tracks. Like a mirror reflection of each other, they eyed the other from head to toe, making for a hilarious scene with the two of them wearing identical toothpaste green scrubs and brown shoes on their feet. Dr. Green no longer had his white lab coat on, so they matched nearly perfectly. The two stared at each other awkwardly for a few heartbeats before Sean cracked up, doubling over in laughter. Johnny blushed for a second before he smiled and joined in with the laughter. The mirth was contagious, for I started my own giggles along with them, shaking my head at the hilarity.

Dr. Green handed the bag with the simple cotton drawstring at the top to Mr. Galloway once he composed himself halfway decently. Johnny immediately shoved his wet clothes into and cinched the bag up tight.

Sean sat down beside me and addressed Johnny. "If you want me to, I can go change into my apple pie and vanilla ice cream patterned scrubs in my overnight bag. I know how weird things get when two people show up to the same party with the same outfit on."

Johnny chuckled and took his seat. "Nah, Doc. You're good." He took a sip of his tea, which wasn't steaming anymore, and he furrowed his brows together. "I won't get into trouble for impersonating a doctor or nurse in a hospital, will I?"

Dr. Green shook his head, his hair dancing about his ears. His curls were tighter from air drying after being soaked in the rain. "You'll be fine. It's the badge that matters." He touched the white, plastic card that was clipped to the breast pocket of the uniform top. His eyes went back and forth between Johnny and me. "Don't ever hesitate to ask the hospital staff to verify their badge to you. They don't have business performing any procedures or sharing information if they can't produce their badge immediately."

I nodded to acknowledge him. He rewarded my attentiveness by hooking his foot around mine and rubbing the toe of his shoe along my inside arch. His shin pressed up against my calf, and I was aware of every square inch where we made contact. My face burned in a blush and my hands fidgeted in my lap, elated and embarrassed at the blatant flirting in public. Sean smiled and winked at me as his fingers tapped a random pattern on the table top.

Johnny twirled his tea around in the cup, playing with its sloshing more than drinking it. "How's Jackie?" he asked of Dr. Green.

"She's stable," he answered. Johnny's eyes brightened and his posture straightened slightly. His mouth was opening to say something, but Dr. Green beat him to it. "You can't visit her right now. I'm sorry." Sean truly looked regretful for the bad news.

Johnny's shoulders slumped right back to the way they were.

"She can't take visitors when she's unconscious," Sean explained, "unless it's immediate family or people she has previously authorized in a living will or records she already holds in our system."

Johnny nodded his understanding. "I don't blame y'all. I wouldn't want to wake up with a stranger in my room that wasn't sporting a shiny and official badge like yours." The follow-up grin was bittersweet.

The two guys talk a bit more about the weather, of all things, and the updates of the flooding Johnny gleaned from watching the television. Sean was just suggesting how we ought to put our wet clothes in a dryer in his wing's laundry facility, mentioning they were frequently used to such favors, when he got a page. He checked the little window of his pager after he dug it out of his pocket, and his eyebrows raised to his hairline. With a goofy grin, he reached over to me and squeezed my shoulder. "Sorry, but I need to run. I'm about to bring a brand new baby into the world!"

He jumped up and jogged out with an extra bounce in his step. Johnny and I were rendered speechless. "Congratulations!" Johnny called to Sean's back just before he disappeared through the stairwell door.

Johnny and I sat across from each other. He swirled his tea around more while staring at the television screen. I fidgeted with the cuticles of my fingernails, idly wondering when Gabriel would have enough free time to paint them again, or if one of the other guys would like a turn. Kind of like the time Victor wanted to wash my hair.

The air between us hung heavy with silence. With my entire life being banned from having friends and a willingness to not interact with anyone at school, at least before I moved to South Carolina, my social skills were lacking on how to properly converse with this stranger. I felt like he didn't deserve to be alone, but just sitting there seemed to make my good intentions belly flop into a pool of awkwardness. So I resorted to the one skill I practiced frequently. "I'm sorry," I apologized.

His blue eyes snapped to me, but I kept my own eyes off his head, falling back to old habits of avoiding eye contact.

"What are you sorry for?"

My hand fluttered to the base of my neck as I picked out the appropriate words to say. "For being stuck here. For your day and any missed plans you had. I'm sure you were headed to someplace much more interesting than _this_ ," I waved my hand around to indicate the dining room and beyond.

Johnny smiled. It was tired, but still held true happiness. "There's nothing to be sorry about. I have no regrets for helping that lady out. If it weren't for that, I'd just be at home all by myself, waiting for the day to be late enough to have a beer without guilt. That's all I've done for the past ten years. I'm glad for this change of pace. It's something different."

My eyebrow quirked up, curious about him and his life, but I didn't know how to tactfully ask.

He must have read it from my expression, for he went straight into explaining himself. Johnny was a construction worker by day and a self-proclaimed 'Professional Bachelor' at night. Apparently, that meant he ate a lot of delivery pizzas and take-out Chinese. He frequented a gym to counter all those calories. He owned his own house in the suburbs, dated on and off, but nothing ever developed into anything serious. He was content with his life; he voted every election and helped his guy friends with things, like moving or designated driving. But despite not being disappointed with himself, he felt like he had reached a lull, or stuck in a rut. He wanted to find a new hobby to pursue to break up the monotony of his daily life.

"But I'm sure you're not interested in hearing about my midlife crisis," he joked. "Tell me about yourself. What do you do around here at the hospital?"

The question wasn't loaded, quite innocent actually, but the answer proved to be difficult. My whole situation for being at the hospital was complicated. So I utilized the techniques Mr. Blackbourne trained me to skip around the blatant truth without actually lying. "Dr. Green calls me his 'nurse-in-training,' but I pretty much just shadow him around and try not to get into trouble."

"Are you two dating?"

I burned in a blush. "Is it obvious?" I countered with another question, neither confirming nor denying. Instead, I let him draw his own conclusions.

Johnny chuckled and leaned back in his chair. "He was playing footsie with you."

My mouth gaped. How did he know? O was certain he didn't peek under the table to see Sean's and my legs touching.

"I only know because the Doc found my foot first. But don't you worry your pretty little head. Your secret is safe with me." He winked.

Johnny yawned and excused himself to go get more hot tea. I took the opportunity to bid my goodbye and not interrupt his rest anymore. He looked like he needed a nap.

While wandering back to the Academy Wing, I debated whether I wanted to camp out in the office to stay out of the way and possibly be bored out of my mind, or whether it was worth asking one of the nurses where the laundry room was to get a start on drying our clothes. If I couldn't do the laundry, maybe I could find a supply closet, fill my arms with rolls of toilet paper, and check every single bathroom I could find, at least all the ladies restrooms until I had a chance to make a sign warning not to enter the men's room until I got out.

I never had the chance to make a decision, for Dr. Green called me.

"Did you miss me?" I could hear the smile on his face through the phone.

"Of course. How's your baby?"

"I delivered a bouncing baby boy. No complications and a high APGAR. I suggested the parents name him Sean. Oh, and before I forget, don't tell Owen I still have those apple pie scrubs." I couldn't stop my giggles. "I need you to do something for me, Nurse Sang." His tone had changed to reflect serious business.

I snapped to attention. "Yes?"

"Ms. Jackie Brown is due to wake up soon, and I want someone in there when she comes out of her sedation. When she does, give me a text and I'll head right on over. Can you do that for me, Pookie?"

I nodded, then smacked my forehead once I realized he couldn't see the gesture. "Of course."

He gave me a room number and concise directions from the cafeteria, which were easy to follow after I hung up. I found myself at door only halfway open and nearly dark inside. Jackie's full name was on the plaque by the door frame. The letters were in Sean's handwriting and done with a sharpie on the strip of white cardstock.

Within the room, Jackie was sleeping in the only bed. She was tucked under the scratchy looking blankets. I moved the arm chair in the room to sit across from the foot of the bed; I didn't want to be too close to Jackie in case she freaked out again when she woke up. The positon also made it easy for me to hop up and run straight out the door if an emergency were to occur. Before I got settled in the seat, I sought out the little canteen closet nearby and prepared a disposable pitcher with ice water and a matching cup to bring back to the room. I imagined Jackie would be thirsty upon waking.

I had advanced two levels on a game on my phone when she started to stir. My fingers quickly closed the game and shot a text to Dr. Green like he instructed me to.

She was obviously groggy; the little amount of light in the room made her squint. Her bright blonde hair was disheveled from laying down on the stiff pillow. She tried to clear her throat several times.

I automatically hopped up and poured her a glass of water, setting it on the rolling table designed to situate over the lap of the patient in the bed. I maneuvered the table toward her, keeping the handy furniture directly between us. Her hazel eyes scanned me quickly before she croaked out a 'thank you' and sipped the water.

"How old are you?" she asked me once her throat was clear. Her eyelids still drooped a little, like she still wasn't completely free from the effect of the sedative.

"Sixteen," I answered in almost a whisper.

Jackie huffed. "Figures. I was sixteen once. Sorry, by the way, for going batshit earlier."

My tongue was glued to the roof of my mouth. I wasn't afraid, but I was intimidated. I did not know what to expect from her, especially since her attention was focused on me. I shook my head back and forth to reply to her apology, desperately trying to convey a 'don't worry about it,' to her.

"You're pretty for a sixteen year old. Skinny. I wasn't skinny."

She didn't look like she expected any replies from me, and with her being heavily medicated, I was more than willing to let her talk, hoping it kept her calm long enough for Dr. Green to show up and take over for me. I promised myself to not take anything she had to say personally. Sometimes people just needed to talk.

"I was pudgy at your age. Because of that, no one saw me. I was invisible in high school. You go to high school, don't you? Horrible place. Public schools. No one noticed me, but I saw everyone, and my eyes were trained on Clifford Stein. He was on the defensive line of the football team, and to me, no one was more handsome than him. So when he asked me out on a date one day, I instantly accepted. I didn't even care when I found out he did it on a dare. I was happy that he finally noticed me.

"We hooked up for one date. We did it in the back seat of his car. After that, he didn't look at me again. When I found out I was pregnant, I was happy. I told Clifford, thinking that we could start dating and raise the baby together. After his initial shock, he got mad and panicked. He said since it was his baby, he got the say in what happened to it. He told me to destroy it. He didn't want anything to do with it. He didn't even think about it long enough to suggest a coat hanger before he walked away.

"I grabbed his arm, desperate at the time. He shoved me to the ground and threatened to punch me in the stomach if I ever approached him again. I was so stupid with hormones, I still idolized him after that. I convinced myself with excuses that making the pregnancy public would jeopardize his football career and other bullshit ideas like that. I believed I couldn't even risk going to an abortion clinic and risk exposing him as the father. I was willing to sacrifice myself for his future.

"Since I was so chunky, it didn't take much to hide the belly bump. I had the baby in an abandoned house, unwrapped the cord from around its neck. It was a boy. I would have named him after Clifford. Yeah, Clifford was a douche, but every time I think about that baby, I think of him as Clifford Brown. If he was a girl, his name would have been Carol.

"My parents never found out. They're normal folks. Middle class, no nonsense people. They wouldn't have understood, so I never told them. Hell, they _still_ don't know I had that baby. The only one to ever figure it out was my gynecologist a few years later." She pointed a manicured finger at me. "You're the only other person on this world that knows."

My heart was breaking. I didn't want to imagine the pain that accompanied the rejection she suffered. A tear escaped my eye once I realized I was now burdened with her lifelong secret.

"You probably think I'm loopy with all this rambling I'm doing, but there's a point. I promise you, there's a point to it all." Jackie sniffled and bit on the knuckles of her fist.

"Where is he now?" I asked quietly in the silence. "Clifford Brown, I mean."

She shook her head to and fro, the tangles of her blonde hair whipping around her face. "I never wanted to come back here. I made it a point to never come back here." Her motions slowed before I thought she fell back into another hysterical panic. Her voice was strong again when she continued. "It's irrational, I know, but I was always afraid I'd run into him here. What are the changes he'd still be here after all these years?"

My brows knit together in confusion. "I don't understand what you mean."

Jackie sighed heavily. "I tucked the baby into a carrier, came to this exact hospital, and left it behind a trash can. There were so many people walking around, someone was sure to find it. I didn't stay to find out. I walked away and didn't look back."

The air shifted, and I turned around just in time to see toothpaste green scrubs and a head of sandy blond curls storm out of the room.


	5. Chapter 5

**Previously on What the Water Brings In:**

 _Jacked sighed heavily. "I tucked the baby into a carrier, came to this exact hospital, and left it behind a trash can. There were so many people walking around, someone was sure to find it. I didn't stay to find out. I walked away and didn't look back."_

 _The air shifted, and I turned around just in time to see toothpaste green scrubs and a head of sandy blond curls storm out of the room._

 **Now…**

"Dr. Green!" I called before I rushed out of the room. Jackie stayed behind, sipping more of her water as she watched me flee.

My sandals didn't have very good purchase on the tiled floor, so I skidded across the hall and crashed into the wall with my shoulder before I could change directions toward Dr. Green's retreating back. A few steps, and I had my momentum back to chase after him. Yet he was power walking and managed to gain quite some distance. "Dr. Green!" I tried to shout as loud as I thought I could. My voice still wasn't 100% since the week before school started and my unfortunate experience with lemon juice spiked with vinegar.

He turned another corner. "Dr. Sean!" I tried again, this time coming out as a croak. I hoped to get his attention before I lost sight of him, but I wasn't successful. My shoes slid with my inertia past the intersection until a hospital bed tucked up against the wall stopped me. Then I doubled back to resume my chase.

I _really_ hoped I was following the right set of green scrubs. There were so many sets in a hospital, and it seemed everyone who was wearing them had to be out in the halls this very moment. "Sean!" my voice barked, the tone cracking as it echoed down the long corridor before my target got absorbed into an inconveniently passing crowd. The use of his personal name finally reached him and got him to pause in his tracks. His head was bent down to cast shadows over his face. I couldn't see his eyes when I caught up.

Party annoyed he had the audacity to run away from me, but more concerned he wasn't saying anything, I wrapped my fingers around his wrist and pulled, guiding him back to the way we came. He resisted a little at first, but a gentle tug got his feet moving.

My eyes scanned the signs for each door we passed until the first patient room that said _vacant_. Borrowing his own trick, I switched the sign to inform everyone it was now in use and pushed Sean inside, closing the door behind us.

The Good Doctor was a shell of the man I knew. Something had scooped out everything that made him Sean. His green eyes no longer twinkled with mirth. Even his serious demeanor when he meant business and focused his energy on healing the sick and injured wasn't there. I missed his flirting. He was empty.

I flung my arms around him and squeezed with every ounce of strength I possessed I got a grunt and his plastic badge digging into my jaw as a reward.

The room was dark. I had forgotten to turn on the lights, and the storm outside blocked out most of the daylight. Only the occasional bolt of lightning illuminated the space well enough to make out details further than a few feet away. But I didn't need light to feel Dr. Green's heart beat through his chest.

"Come back to me, Sean," I pleaded on a whisper. "I miss you already. I need you."

I felt the shudder wrack through his body before he lifted his arms to curl around my ribs and hold me to him. His head lowered until I could feel his breathing across my hairline. I didn't have all of him back, but I had some.

"How much did you hear?" I asked quietly.

"Since the part where I was born in a filthy, derelict house with my own umbilical cord wrapped around my neck." His voice was dead and monotonous.

My hands rubbed up and down his spine in an attempt to sooth him. "I know what you're thinking," I said.

Dr. Green snorted and pulled away from me. I felt cold when he left my arms and turned to face the stormy window. "You have no idea what's going through my head. You have no clue!"

My brows knit together. Who was this man before me? I couldn't help but feel offended at his accusation of my ignorance, because he was wrong. "Okay, so I may not be able to write down the words streaming through your mind this instant, but I certainly know how you feel."

"Fine then, Miss Smartypants." His arms crossed over his chest, but he remained staring out the window. Despite talking to me, he would not turn to look me in the eye. "Tell me. Just _how do I feel_?" He mocked me with his head bobbling side to side at each word.

It hurt, but I steeled myself against the pain and reminded myself he was hurting more. "You feel lost, like you don't know where you are supposed to be going or even begin to recognize the way there. That alone wouldn't be so bad, but add in how the rug has been yanked from under your feet, and the floor underneath it is crumbling away until there is nothing left to stand on? To make it worse, you're all alone. No one is in sight, and no one can hear you no matter how loud your voice inside your head screams.

"You're scared because you can't seem to get your footing as the floor disappears, but even while afraid, you want nothing more than for the darkness under you to swallow you up until you can't feel anything. Until you don't exist anymore. You can't hurt if you can find that numbness, so you try to retreat into that, because it's the closest thing to bliss you can find."

Dr. Green's hands fell limply to his sides. His head turned so I could make out the silhouette of his profile. "How do you know?" he whispered. My ears barely caught it over the sound of the rain pelting on the window pane.

I kept my footsteps silent as I approached. I didn't want to spook him. He became aware of where I was when I reached and clutched the back of his shirt. My other hand was clenched into a fist at the base of my throat. "Because that's how I felt when I found out my mother isn't my mother, and the real one is dead."

He stiffened, completely frozen for a second before he whirled around and attacked me in his own tight embrace. With me in his arms, his knees collapsed, and we crumpled to the floor. I held him as tightly as he held me. "It doesn't feel like it, Sean, but you're not alone. I'm right here with you." I meant that more than just literally, and he understood.

"Jesus, Sang," he shuddered as his grip on me loosened just enough for him to look into my face. "Oh, god!" His hand clamped on either side of my jaw to hold my head still as he leaned forward and kissed away the tears I did not know were on my cheeks. "Why are you in my life? I don't deserve you."

My thumbs wiped away his own tears from under his eyes. I rubbed the drops into the skin of my palms as my green eyes held his own. "We deserve each other. We're Destiny Babies, aren't we?"

Sean tried to chuckle, but it came out more like a sob. "Yeah, Pookie. Yeah, we are," he said on a sigh before he hugged me again, burying his face into my neck until my hair hid him from the world. His short pants of breath tickled my skin.

"I thought I had accepted the truth. I was fine with it. There's not even a need to cope these days with who I am, because I'm happy with who that is," he mumbled into my collar bone. With my free arm, I ran my fingers through his curls. They were silkier than they looked. "But now I'm finding out there is a story where there wasn't one before. I'm not prepared for it, Sang. I'm trained to be prepared for anything that can possibly be thrown at me, and I'm not even close to ready. I don't even know where to begin."

"Well," I spoke, "why don't we start with facts? You know how Mr. Blackbourne scolds us for conjecture."

I was hoping to get a laugh from him as I dared to tease his best friend. At least a chuckle or some shaking shoulders. Instead, I got a kiss on the soft flesh of my neck, and it felt _really_ good. The flirtatious Dr. Green was making a comeback. However, I was trying to be serious and help him sort out his problem with his patient, so I tried to ignore the press of his lips against my pulse point. Along with the one after that, and the one after that one.

"Fact. Ms. Jackie abandoned a baby she had when she was sixteen at this medical center. That was years ago."

"Fact." Dr. Green continued. "I was found as a baby, abandoned at his hospital, also years ago."

"But," I jumped in before his thoughts could run away from the point I wanted to bring up, "we don't know if those were the same baby. _That_ is conjecture." Sean couldn't be the only baby left in a hospital, especially one as big as this and in a city as busy as Charleston. What were the chances Dr. Green's patient would be his long, lost, biological mother to begin with? Kota wasn't here to calculate the odds for me, but I imagined them to be astronomical.

Sean lifted his head away from me as he sucked in air on a long breath through his nose. "You're right. We don't know." His lips smacked onto mine, but I didn't pucker back. The kiss was quick, rough, and sloppy. It held no affection or any of the flirt normally about him. Instead, the act spoke more of sarcasm than anything else.

He grabbed me by the hips and set me on the floor so he could jump up to his feet in the blink of an eye. My attempt to stand up was much less graceful, and he was out the door before I had my footing.

"Dr. Green!" I croaked, rolling my eyes. Not this again. "Sean!" I ran out of the room, not bothering to close the door or fix the vacancy sign. I spotted him behind the counter of a nearby nurse's station, rummaging through some drawers of medical supplies. "What are you doing?" I asked frantically, clutching to the edge of the countertop that separated us.

He closed the drawers and leaned against a filing cabinet while flexing his hand into a fist. He tied a rubber strip around his upper arm with his other hand and teeth. I realized what he was doing to himself when he took a wet square and rubbed it into the crook of his elbow. I could only watch in horror as he jabbed a needle right where he had cleaned the soft patch of skin, then quickly popped an empty vial into the hub. Dark red blood instantly flowed into the glass tube, and it filled in no time. After pulling out the vial, he managed to press a small gauze pad into his elbow and yank out the needle at the same time. He taped the gauze to his skin and threw the needle into a red bin attached to the wall. The vial rolled around on the counter until he caught it and wrote on the label with a sharpie. I was close enough to see the letters spell out, "SEAN GREEN."

He wouldn't look at me. As much as I stared, he would not turn his head in my direction. I cleared the lump out of my throat with a gulp. "What are you doing?" I asked again as he washed his hands in a sink.

He answered me after he dried his hands and slipped on a pair of white gloves with a snap. "I'm gathering facts," he said while still managing to avoid facing me directly. He gathered up another set of needle, vial, alcohol swab, and tourniquet before circling around to leave the station and walk determinedly down the hall back toward Ms. Jackie's room.

Oh my god. This wasn't good. I yanked my phone out of my bra and opened the violin app, mashing the green button before putting the phone to my ear.

" _Miss Sorenson?_ "

"Mr. Blackbourne!" I squeaked as I hurriedly walked to keep pace with a little distance behind Dr. Green. "It's Dr. Green. I don't know what to do!"

" _Calm down and tell me exactly what is going on._ "

"His patient is a woman who nearly drowned. He overheard that she abandoned a baby here at the hospital when she was a teenager, and now he thinks she is his birth mother," I explained in a single breath. I did my best to only relay the pertinent details.

" _What is he doing now?_ "

"He's going back to her room with a needle right after drawing a vial of his own blood."

" _Are there other doctors or nurses around?_ "

"No!" Of course, when I needed help, the hallways were empty. Where were all the people that were out the first time I was chasing Dr. Green?

" _Listen to me very carefully, Miss Sorenson. Try to talk to him to back down, but do not try to restrain him in any way. He can undoubtedly overpower you, and I don't want you stabbed by accident._ "

I saw Dr. Green turn into Jackie's room and close the door behind him. "Mr. Blackbourne, I'm going to need help."

" _Yes. I will hang up with you and call who I can there at the hospital. I can't get there now, and neither can the boys, but I will get help to you. What room?_ "

"367."

" _I believe in you, Miss Sorenson. Be there for him._ "

The line clicked dead before I had a chance to reply.


	6. Chapter 6

I wanted to pause at door 367, the door that had Jacqueline Brown on the sign in Sean's handwriting. A moment would have been nice for me to gather my wits and courage together so I could tie them up with shoelaces and carry the bundle with me. But with every second I faltered, the closer Sean got to doing something I was certain he would regret later.

The door latch opened with a soft click. I probably could have made it silent, but I did not want perfect stealth at the moment. Spooking either Sean or Jackie could prove disastrous, so I carefully entered the room with enough noise to let the people inside know someone new was there, but not obnoxiously to cause any alarm. I left the door half open to allow easy access to whoever Mr. Blackbourne sent to help me, but still afford for a sense of privacy to whatever I could say to Sean.

Too bad I didn't have a clue as to what that would be.

Dr. Green already had the tourniquet tied around Jackie's upper arm and was swabbing the crook of her elbow with the alcohol square.

I was too late. If I were to say anything at that point, I would just incite panic in either Dr. Green, Jackie, or both. The situation could easily escalate to that needle being turned into a weapon.

A buzzing sounded to my left. Glancing over my shoulder, I saw Dr. Green's purple-cased iPhone face down on the side of the handwashing sink. It danced a little as it vibrated, and its jig gave me a sliver of an idea.

"Dr. Green?" I called out, trying my hardest to keep the shakes out of my voice. "You're being paged. I think you're needed urgently elsewhere." It wasn't a lie. I needed him urgently anywhere but this room right now.

"Nonsense," Dr. Green replied in a professional tone. "This perfectly routine medical procedure will take absolutely no time at all. I'll be finished up in a jiffy." Again, he didn't bother to look in my direction as he spoke to me.

"I know my patient rights," Jackie piped while focusing on her arm. "Why are you taking my blood?"

"I will be running the standard tests on it," he answered with a pleasant bedside manner. "White cell count, platelets, and all those little bits that make up your blood will be counted. It will tell me if there's enough of everything in you."

He wasn't lying either. Sean just omitted his main goal for obtaining the vial of her blood. He was better trained with Academy skills than the comparatively few lessons I've had with Mr. Blackbourne.

A terrifying thought flashed through my mind. What if an Academy member did go rouge? A person trained to possess skills like lying, manipulation, analytical and predictive thinking, subterfuge, and stealth, all now second nature, could be unbelievably dangerous if the person held malicious intent. Any trained Academy member could con their way into a position of power and corrupt the system to their advantage. An Academy member with genius cognitive skills? They would be a real life Moriarty.

Dr. Green didn't have malicious intentions, but he was certainly using his Academy skills to his own advantage. There were better ways to do this, and I was powerless to stop him as he pushed the needle into the blue vein in Jackie's arm.

"Dr. Green," I whimpered as my heart broke.

The door behind me swung fully open, its door handle smacking into the stopped on the wall. It scared the begeesus out of me, startling me to press my hips against the sink with my fists clenched under my chin.

Two people I had never seen before breezed in at a pace that was hurried, but not so fast it was alarming. They looked as if they were simply arriving late to an appointment.

One was male, the other female. Both wore navy blue scrubs and had plastic ID badges clipped to their front pockets. The salt and pepper hair on the man combed to the side on a part, along with the dirty blonde, shoulder length hair with greying roots on the woman told me they were both in their late 40s. He wore rimless glasses. She had conservative, yet stylish black frames on her nose. They both wore serious expressions lined with worry.

In turn, they quickly glanced and nodded at me before going further into the room to the bed with Jackie and Sean, the latter pulling the full vial out of the needle hub.

"Dr. Green." The man spoke in a firm, but pleasant tenor. "I need you to come with me."

"I'm almost done," Sean answered, still focused on wrapping up the blood draw.

The woman squeezed by the man and Sean until she could use her hip to bump Sean away from the bed. "Go ahead with Dr. Pickett. I'll finish up here." The words had a drawl that was significantly different than the Charleston accent. Her voice had a quality similar to a sweet, little old grandmother who handed out homemade cookies while saying there was nothing to worry about, making everyone believe her reassurances even as the world burned down around them.

"Alright. Just let me take care of-"

Dr. Green's hand reaching for the vial on the bed got lightly smacked by the woman. "Hush, now," she commanded sweetly. "I've got this."

Dr. Pickett placed his hands on Sean's shoulder. Sean's eyes narrowed slightly in a glare to the other doctor, but he left the room without a fuss. Dr. Pickett's hand did not leave Sean's shoulder as he escorted the other out.

I turned to follow the two men, but quickly doubled back to grab Sean's phone from the sink before I got out the door.

I overheard the woman talking to Jackie as I crossed the threshold. "Ms. Brown? I'm Nurse Rebecca," she introduced herself.

"Ugh. My name is Jackie."

"I'll call you Jackie if you call me Becks. Deal?"

I made sure to close the door behind me.

The two men were staring at each other. Dr. Pickett had only a couple inches in height over Dr. Green, but they were just about as lean as each other. I noticed Dr. Pickett had a sliver of neatly trimmed facial hair from his bottom lip to his chin. There wasn't enough there to call it a beard or even a goatee, and it was the same mix of grey and dark as the rest of his hair.

Sean turned to me. "I'm surprised it took you that long to tattle on me, Sang," he said with a sneer. "I almost got away with it."

My insides froze with the coldness he just blasted me with. That was the first time he looked at me since we were in each other's arms in the vacant patient room, and I didn't like it. It made me shiver.

"What can I do?" I asked Dr. Pickett, trying to ignore Dr. Green's callous remarks.

Lines creased the older doctor's forehead. "Brief Rebecca when she's done in there, then report to your Owen Blackbourne. Dr. Green and I are going to go sit down somewhere and have a chat."

Dr. Green huffed and turned on his heel to go down the hallway. His shoulders were pulled back and his head held high as his hands clasped together behind his back. Dr. Pickett followed a step behind.

Nurse Rebecca emerged from the room not too long after the men disappeared, saving me from fidgeting awkwardly as I leaned against the wall.

"You're Sang. Am I right?" she asked. I wasn't familiar with her drawl; I couldn't tell where she was from.

My answer to her question was a nod as my finger pushed my lip against my teeth.

"Okay, hon. Let's go find us a quiet spot so you can tell me what's going on." She gestured to the opposite direction than where Dr. Green went. I looked to where I last saw my doctor, wishing I could be with him even if he wasn't acting like himself. I told him that he wasn't alone, that I was there with him, and my promise was already broken.

I had no choice but to trust this stranger. The assurance that Mr. Blackbourne had sent her to help me was the only thing that gave me the courage to make my feet move in the direction Rebecca's arm pointed.

Together, we found an empty waiting room and took seats facing each other. A low coffee table with disorganized magazines stood between us. She sat on the edge of her chair and braced her elbows on her knees. Her hands held up her chin. I sat up straight with my feet flat on the floor. My hands were balled up in my lap.

"Do you know where Dr. Roberts is?" I asked. He was the only other person in the hospital I trusted with my well-being other than my boys. While I was sure Rebecca was Academy, I preferred familiarity. This lady was still a stranger.

She gave me a regretful half-smile. "I like Dr. Roberts too, but he's not here. He was off campus for lunch when the storm hit, and he couldn't make it back with the flooding. He was the first one your liaison called."

"My liaison?" I asked. I had not heard that term involved with me before.

"Ah. His name is… uh… Blackbeard?"

My lips curled into a smile. A giggle threatened to escape me at the twist of my violin teacher's very proper sounding name into a pirate's. "Mr. Blackbourne," I clarified.

"Yeah. That's him. When Dr. Roberts said he couldn't help out, he forwarded Mr. Blackbourne to us." She smiled encouragingly at me. "I know this is a bit out of protocol, but let me introduce myself. I'm Rebecca Pickett. My other half is Doctor Tyson Pickett."

They were married to each other? Were doctors allowed to marry their nurses? Well, I assumed they worked together since they went into Jackie's room as a pair. Dr. Green joked and flirted about me being the future Mrs. Green, then called me his nurse in the next sentence, but I never considered the quips seriously.

"You haven't seen us around the hospital before because Tyson and I flew in from Texas earlier this week. We're just here for a training seminar and to help out where we can. Kinda like today." That explained her accent.

The amount I was learning about the Academy from her in the last ten minutes alone was quickly adding up to more than I had in the past month. The Academy's reach stretched at least out to Texas. How far did it go? I remembered the boys mentioning Mr. Blackbourne went to Europe and eventually brought Silas and North back with him, but the impression I got was that was just a visit. Rebecca spoke as if she and her husband were stationed in Texas. Were there other Academy stations throughout the United States? What about other countries? I figured I could get the answers to these questions if I could convince all my boys to let me join their ranks.

"Uh oh." Rebecca's eyebrows were furrowed. It brought out some of the lines around her eyes behind her dainty glasses and made her seem older. "You're not Academy, are you?"

Heat flooded my cheeks. My thoughts must have been visible again. "I want to be," I admitted on a whisper. My eyes focused on a spot on my sandals.

"No wonder you look so confused. See, this is why we have the introduction system in place, to avoid strange conversations like these."

"I won't get you into trouble, will I?" I asked with concern.

"Nah. Don't worry about me none, hon, but let's get a move on to the stuff we do need to talk about." She clapped her hands and leaned back into her chair, crossing one leg over the other. Her foot in white tennis shoes bobbed up and down. "What's going on for young Dr. Green to need a time out?"

Now I really felt backed into a corner. Not in the panicky way, but where I knew I had to give in with reluctance. She was asking for Sean's history without knowing she was, and that wasn't my story to tell. I didn't think his past as an orphan was a secret, but the details belonged to him and those he chose to share it with.

I still had to give her an answer, so I chopped out everything I did not think was significant, hoping it was enough for her to understand what prompted Sean's sudden personality change. "Dr. Green was orphaned as an infant, and he thinks he just stumbled across his birth mother."

Rebecca gasped. "Oh my word! Bless his heart." The fingertips of her right hand rubbed on her chest right over her heart. "And the blood sample was to check her DNA against his?"

"I assume so." My hands pulled at the thread that held the hem of my skirt.

"Does Jackie know of his suspicions?"

My head shook back and forth.

"Okay then. We've got ourselves a pickle, don't we? Tell you what, my dear." She produced a business card from a pocket and wrote on the back with the pen hanging from the lanyard around her neck. "There's my cell phone number. I'm sure your Mr. Blackbeard is itchin' for a report, so I'll leave you to that. Give me a text message when you're done."

She hopped to her feet and hurried out, leaving me alone in the empty waiting room.

 **A/N: Yes, this chapter is a shameless plug and crossover to my Paper Crane story. I yoinked Nurse Becks and Dr. Pickett from the many characters I have dreamed up to make Houston Academy. Let me know with comments if you think Becks is too over the top.**


	7. Chapter 7

The waiting room was eerily quiet when no one else was in it with me. The space did not have any windows, so the storm raging outside could easily be forgotten. I could also believe I was the only person in the whole hospital with the lack of noise. Not wanting to be alone in such a large complex, I quickly ran through an inventory of everyone I knew that was in the hospital. Nurse Becks was just with me. Jackie, who may or may not be Sean's biological mother, was tucked into her room until she fully recovered from the drowning and the effects of the sedative. Johnny Galloway was probably still in the cafeteria, waiting for the roads to clear up so he could go home. I didn't know where Sean was, but I was confident he was on the grounds and in the company of Dr. Pickett.

My heart ached upon thinking of Dr. Sean, hating the pain and loneliness he must have been suffering for being an unwanted baby. I couldn't afford to dwell on those thoughts; I had been given clear instructions on what I had to do next, and I didn't want my voice breaking with emotion on this phone call. I doubted Mr. Blackbourne would have approved.

My phone came out of my bra, and I remembered I still had Dr. Green's phone. He had left it on Jackie's room, and I picked it up for him before we parted ways. I set the purple cased phone on the coffee table on top of the magazines, promising myself I wouldn't forget it. I would have stuck it in the other cup of my bra, but I feared the electrical shock it could emit if anyone tried to gain his attention with a red or green line.

Mr. Blackbourne's text conversation was far down in my phone; I had to scroll almost to the bottom to find it. We didn't text nearly as much as I did with the other boys.

 **Sang:** Are you busy?

It was just a normal text message, not one from the customized app with the violin as the icon. I didn't want to interrupt, for Mr. Blackbourne was a very busy man…

…which was why I jumped in surprise when my phone immediately started to buzz with an incoming call. The caller ID said Mr. Blackbourne and displayed a picture of him sitting at the piano in Music Room B, his fingers at the keys. I had snapped the picture as he played an impressionist piece about clouds. I tried to be sneaky about taking his picture to complete my contacts list of my guys; I was too nervous to outright ask him permission like I did the eight other boys. Mr. Blackbourne probably knew what I was doing nonetheless, for the picture had that millimeter lift of his lip at the corner of his mouth.

He must have not been too busy for him to answer my text message with a phone call. "Hello?"

"Miss Sorenson."

"Mr. Blackbourne," I automatically answered back.

"Are you alright?" he asked me.

"Yes. I'm fine," was my default reply.

"Did help arrive?" His tone was firm and slightly rushed. He had a thread of nervousness running just under his surface. This was the most rattled I had ever heard him to be, and I didn't like it. I wanted to reassure him, let him know he did not need to worry over me. I just wasn't sure on how to do that, and I wasn't quite sure if it was true or not, whether he really did need to fret over my wellbeing. How pathetic could I be for needing him to worry over me if Dr. Green was the one hurting?

I took in a deep breath and answered on the exhale. "Nurse Becks and Dr. Pickett came just in time. Dr. Green managed to draw Ms. Jackie's blood, but he didn't get to keep it."

"I take it Ms. Jackie is his patient and alleged mother?"

"That's right."

"Where is Dr. Green now?" he asked me. I could hear paper shuffling in the background, like he was at a desk in an office.

"He is with Dr. Pickett right now. Nurse Becks said something about a 'time out.'"

There was a silent pause before Mr. Blackbourne spoke again. "That is her own terminology, Miss Sorenson. Not Academy."

"Oh." I blushed in embarrassment, but glad he could not see my skin flush pink through the phone call. Knowing him, he probably already knew I was red anyways.

"It's a good thing Dr. Green isn't alone right now. He needs supervision until he can find a way to come to terms with his past again." He took in his own deep breath and let it out. Mr. Blackbourne was just as worried over Sean as I was. "A city crew is out and repairing the broken water pipe as we speak, though with the rain, it will still be several hours at minimum before the water levels lower enough for any of us to drive out to you."

My heart sank and lifted at the same time. On one hand, I was sad I was going to remain separated from the rest of the boys for a while longer, but the other hand held optimism that the situation with the flooding was on its way to improving. I just needed to exercise patience. Maybe this extra time secluded at the hospital was a good thing, not for me, but for Dr. Green. He would be forced to face his demons, and hopefully that would be the road to healing in the long run.

"While Mr. Lee made it seem like a joke at first," Mr. Blackbourne carried on, "Silas has indeed procured a rowboat in light of your situation with Dr. Green."

I giggled. I couldn't help it. As many times in such a short time as the guys had brought up Silas and his boat, I was sure Fate was trying to give me a cosmic hint. Hopefully Silas liked to fish and could take me out on the water to teach me. At a later date, of course. I doubted either one of us was in a fishing mood that day with the storm and what the water brought in to the hospital.

Mr. Blackbourne clearing his throat brought me back to the dire circumstances I was in. He had caught me lost in a daydream; Luke must have been rubbing off on me. "Sorry, Mr. Blackbourne."

He continued right on with the business at hand. "Do I need to dispatch him to the hospital?"

"There's no need," I answered. I wasn't in any danger. Neither was Sean, at least physically. We could wait out the flood just fine.

"I trust your judgement," he said. I warmed with his approval. "Is there anything else to report?"

My eyes homed in on the bright splash of purple on the low table in front of my knees. "Yes. I have Dr. Green's phone."

There was another silent moment before Mr. Blackbourne spoke again. I had a feeling I just got the doctor into even more trouble than he was already in.

"It didn't hurt you, did it?"

"No," I replied. "Not while I was holding it." He was concerned about the green button emergency phone calls and how they shocked to ensure the call received the proper attention.

"Good. Return that to him, if you please."

"Yes, Mr. Blackbourne." I fidgeted with the business card Nurse Becks gave me earlier and quickly realized Dr. Pickett's cell phone number was printed on the front. The area code certainly wasn't local to the Charleston area. "If you need to contact Dr. Green now," I said, "you can probably reach him through Dr. Pickett. I have his phone number if you don't."

"Excellent forethought," Mr. Blackbourne praised me, "but not necessary at the moment. Miss Sorenson?"

"Yes, Mr. Blackbourne?"

In the slight pause, I could imagine him adjusting the knot of his suit tie or touching the corner of his glasses to make sure they were perched on his nose perfectly. Those random attentions to details about himself betrayed his true feelings behind his intimidating, yet perfect mask. "Whatever he says to you, he doesn't mean it," he explained. "Dr. Green lashes out with things that do not reflect his true thoughts or feelings when he is overly stressed. Please do not take anything he says to you personally."

The way Mr. Blackbourne spoke made me believe he had experienced Dr. Green's scathing words for himself before, and coming from his best friend, it probably cut him to the bone. If Mr. Blackbourne could still stand by him, I had faith I could too. The verbal jabs Sean gave me hurt, but I still wanted to be there for him.

"Report back to me when you can," Mr. Blackbourne instructed. The clacks of a computer keyboard sounded over the line just before the call ended.

Both Nurse Becks and Dr. Pickett's phone numbers got saved to my contacts. I didn't think I was going to bother asking them for pictures to go with their names. That hardly seemed important in the light of everything else.

I immediately sent off a text to Nurse Becks, proud of myself for remembering to use the random protocol to make sure I entered her number correctly and I wasn't accidentally messaging the wrong person instead.

 **Sang:** Reaganomics.

 **Nurse Becks:** Ugly Christmas sweaters.

My butt wiggled in my seat with a happy dance. I was feeling more Academy with every passing hour today.

 **Sang:** This is Sang. I need to find Dr. Green.

 **Nurse Becks:** Ok sugar. He's in the staff lounge just down the hall from where we were. Call me if you get lost.

I picked up Dr. Green's phone and held it with only my fingertips, clutching just tightly enough to make sure it didn't fall and break on the hard tiled floor as I got up and headed out of the waiting room. I doubted someone would red or green line Dr. Green in the short span it took me to find the staff lounge, but the fear was still there, so I exercised caution to minimize the shock. Just in case.

The greater chance was that the lounge was in the same direction the two doctors headed when we initially parted ways outside of Jackie's room, so that was the way I went. There was the oddball risk of the men doubling back or circling around so they were behind me. I hoped luck was on my side.

 **A/N: This is about half as much as I wanted to put in. I'm sorry! My muses have been giving me problems lately, including Loki, who is currently pestering me to work on Paper Crane. Hopefully this chapter will be enough to tide you over until I can get the next chapter written out. See what I did there? "Tide?" Ah haha hahhaaa ha… eh… heh.. heh?**

… **no?**

 **Tough crowd.**


	8. Chapter 8

The nurses' station where Dr. Green drew his own blood magically had a nurse behind the counter now. I didn't even want to begin to guess where they were when I needed the help earlier.

 _Don't get bitter, Sang,_ I chastised myself. _The hospital isn't fully staffed, remember?_

I was relived to find a sign affixed to the wall past the first set of double doors after walking by Jackie's room. The arrow for the staff lounge pointed in the direction I was already headed. My spirits lifted with the small victory in that I wasn't already lost.

The joy immediately turned to shock when Dr. Green's phone started vibrating. My arms jerked without my permission; I must have been subconsciously afraid the phone was going to electrocute me. Since I was grasping the case lightly with only my fingertips, the phone flung out of my hand and into the air due to my sudden movements.

Dread filled me. I had broken enough of my own phones and cracked Gabriel's screen recently. Destroying Dr. Green's phone was not an option! Victor's black credit card hated me enough as it was. The iPhone jumped and danced in the air as I tried to catch it repeatedly, just managing to slap it back into the air with my fingers several times in a row. The ringtone was a guitar riff playing the Mission Impossible theme song, which added an interesting soundtrack to my impromptu juggling act with the ringing phone. Each swipe I took urged it up and forward, and my feet were doing the tango to try and keep pace with it. I fell to my knees in a final lunge and braced myself from face planting onto the sterile tile floor with one hand. The other finally caught the airborne phone. I loud exhale of relief escaped me as I flipped it over several times to make sure it was okay; thank goodness there was no damage.

The screen did show that the incoming call had connected; the phone on the other end belonged to someone named Kudo Renji. My fingers must have swiped across the glass screen the right way as I was scrambling to catch it, answering the call.

What was I supposed to do with a live phone call that wasn't intended for me? Ending the call would have been rude. What if it was important? I didn't know how much further the staff lounge was from my spot kneeling on the floor. Running without saying anything to deliver the phone as quietly as I could to Dr. Green so he could answer it instead didn't seem feasible.

With a gulp, I lifted the phone to my ear. "This is Dr. Sean Green's phone. Sang speaking," I said into as I pushed myself up to stand. I looked at my knees for damage, but found they were okay. The calluses that developed from years of kneeling on hardwood floors protected the joints from scraping upon impact. If anything, I would have slight bruises just over my kneecaps.

"Eh?" the voice on the phone answered. "Sing? You want me to sing, Sean-chan?"

"No. My name is Sang," I said, being sure to enunciate a little more clearly. This Kudo person held an accent that made it obvious English was not his first language. I hoped I didn't insult him with my efforts to slow my speaking pace to make my words clearer for him.

"Ah. _Gomen, gomen,_ " he said. I recognized the informal word for 'sorry' in Japanese. Kudo had to be from Japan. "Are you the bird that Sean talks about all the time?"

I had no idea as to what he was talking about. I didn't know any pet birds, and I was pretty sure the guys didn't have any. Dr. Sean never talked to me about a bird. The only pet among us was Max, Kota's dog. Unless Mr. Blackbourne had birds at his home. I had never been there to find out. However, Mr. Blackbourne didn't strike me as a caged bird type.

"I'm trying to find Dr. Green now to return his phone to him. If you could hold on for a minute…" I deflected as I continued down the hall in my search for the staff lounge.

"I keep forgetting Sean-chan is a _isha_ … eh… doctor," he corrected himself. "I am Renji. His cousin. _Yoroshiku._ "

Out of habit from Dr. Green's Japanese class, I returned the greeting in kind. " _Yoroshiku._ " Nice to meet you. I had forgotten in Japan the family name is listed first. Renji was his personal name, the same our first names.

"Is Sean in trouble?" Renji asked as I scanned door signs. Why were there so many restrooms in this hall?

"No, he's not in trouble, I think." He was trying to be, though.

"I want to be there. I heard he really needs _kazoku_ now." Family. Yes. Sean needed family. "But I am in Houston. A phone call is the most I can do now."

Renji already knew about Sean's strife? News travelled fast. And he was calling all the way from Texas? Was he Academy too?

"Rebecca and Dr. Pickett are here. Do you happen to know them?" I asked in a roundabout way to either confirm or deny my suspicion.

"Nurse Becks and Pickett- _sensei_? Tell them I say hi, and Dan wont' stay off his foot. Tattle on him for me."

Even if he was a stranger, I giggled. "What happened to Dan's foot?" I asked.

"Sprained ankle, and he keeps complaining it hurts when he walks on it all day long. Jaylia sits on him to stay still!"

Again, I was clueless as to who he was talking about, but the dynamics among them reminded me of how my own guys interacted with each other. Renji's friends had to be just as close knit.

The door labeled Staff Lounge finally appeared, and I knocked softly on the wood twice before opening and stepping in.

The room was sizable, large enough for three people to mill about their own business or for half a dozen to talk among each other comfortably. Kitchen counters and cabinetry took up one wall, and the rest of the space was full of couches and tables.

Dr. Pickett sat on a sofa with an ankle resting on his other knee. He tapped on his phone. Dr. Green sat on the floor under a window. His back was pressed up against the wall. His hand propped up on his raised and bent knee.

They both looked up at me when I entered. The hand not holding the phone to my ear sheepishly wave at them. "Sorry to interrupt, but is Dr. Green taking calls right now?" I asked while closing the door behind me.

I directed the question to Dr. Pickett, like I was asking him for permission. The older doctor didn't answer, but looked to Sean instead. I guess it was up to my doctor in the end.

Sean's head tipped back until the back of his head pumped against the sill of the window, jostling his sandy curls. "If it's Owen, tell him he can wait."

"Hold on a moment, please," I said into the phone before muffling it against my chest. "It's not Mr. Blackbourne. Your cousin Renji called." Dr. Pickett's ears perked at the name.

Sean chuckled with a snort thrown in. "I have been trying to get him to call me for month, and he calls _now_." He sounded tired. Exasperated. I wanted to crawl into his lap and mold myself into him, trying to help shoulder the weight burdening him. Instead, I had to play secretary. "Do you want me to tell him to call back later?"

Sean extended his hand toward me and wiggled his fingers in a _gimme_ motion. "No. Let me talk to him."

I stepped forward and held out his iPhone. Our fingers brushed as it passed between us. I stared straight into his eyes, willing him to understand that I was still there for him and wanted to move the world to make him feel better. My heart fluttered when he gave me a weak smile back. "Thank you, Miss Sang." His eyes held mine as he lifted the phone to his ear. " _Moshi mosh..._ " He quickly lost himself in conversation, speaking in quick and fluent Japanese.

Sean's voice became slightly deeper when he switched to the other language. It was a phenomenon I noticed with Victor and the other guy students in my Japanese class, whereas the girls, myself included, tended to go higher in pitch when we switched. I wondered why as I approached Dr. Pickett and stood in front and to the side, far enough away to keep as comfortable as I could around this still new person.

He looked up from his phone screen when he noticed me. "Yes, Miss Sang?"

My hands met behind my back and fidgeted. I felt awkward for what I was about to say. "Mr. Kudo requested I tattle on someone named 'Dan'. He hasn't been staying off his sprained ankle and has been complaining about discomfort."

Dr. Pickett chuckled and shook his head back and forth. "I need to give Mr. Kudo a lecture on HIPAA and patient confidentiality. He's not supposed to go around telling everyone Danim's diagnosis unless Danim allows it."

My face heated in shame. I couldn't remember if I was the one to ask for the details or if Renji freely surrendered them to me. No matter the circumstance, I wasn't supposed to know.

"Don't worry," Dr. Pickett reassured me. He didn't hold a thick drawl like Nurse Becks. His speech was actually rather neutral. "I doubt Danim minds you knowing. They both are going to get lectures when I get back to Texas, aren't they?"

I was responsible for getting two people I had never met before into trouble! My throat went try as feeling of guilt overtook me. Against my will, my ribs shook and rattled my insides together.

A heavy arm pressed down on my shoulders, and the fingers draped down to tickle my collarbone. A quick glance to my side confirmed it was Sean. He had snuck up on me, and his ginger scent grounded me. The smile had returned to his lips, not fully, but enough for me to be able to start breathing regularly again.

"Be careful what you say to her, _sensei_ ," Sean said to Dr. Pickett with the phone still to his ear. "Her heart is too big for her own good. She'll worry, and I won't have any giggles left to cure." He said the last part while looking down at me with a hint of his flirtatious grin. I wanted to reach up and touch it, see if I could get it to come out more for me. Dr. Pickett eyed me like he was inspecting me from head to toe, raised an eyebrow, and went back to tapping at his phone.

Sean guided me to another couch for the two of us to sit side by side. His arm stayed around my shoulders and held me close to him. I tucked myself into his side and tried to steal his body heat. He spoke a few more phrases in Japanese to his cousin, and then put the phone in front of my face.

"Ren wants to talk to you. Don't flirt with him too much. That's my job."

I didn't do a good job of hiding my smirk. "Your job is to flirt with your cousin?" I teased while I took the phone.

The hand over my collarbone reached up and tugged lightly at a lock of my dirty blonde hair. "Smartass," he accused me.

I was giggling when I put the phone to my ear. "Hello?"

Renji was giggling too. He must have heard it all. He had to take a deep breath before taking on a serious tone to speak to me. "Sean-kun tells me you are _kazoku_. That makes us _kazoku_." Family. "He needs _kazoku_ more than ever right now to hold on to. I gave him happy things from the past to hold. The job you have it to give him things from the future to hold. Happy things. Do not let him let go."

That was a hefty task to be given, but I was determined to follow through. I had been wanting to help Sean, but I was lacking the knowledge as to how. Renji just gave me direction, and I was going to take it.

"I leave him in your care, Sang," Renji said.

"Yes. Thank you," I whispered before the call disconnected from the other end.

My mind was whirling, formulating thoughts, ideas, and rough plans on how to execute my new mission in Operation Fix Dr. Sean as I returned his phone. I was ecstatic to see him slip it into his pocket, as if he was taking a step toward accepting his life back. Like he was letting his family close to him once more.

He squeezed me into a side hug and pressed a kiss to the hair at the top of my head. The displays of affection were put forth despite Dr. Pickett's proximity and ability to witness. A blush crept over my cheeks, knowing someone else was in the room and could look up at any moment to see Sean's lips on me as I curled into his side. Sean didn't seem to care as he nestled his nose against my scalp and breathed me in. He must have told Dr. Pickett we were dating, or was willing to let the older doctor assume so. Just like how we led Kota's mother believe Kota and I were dating, or Uncle about me being Luke's girlfriend. Here, in the staff lounge at the hospital, I could be Sean's girlfriend, and I liked the idea.

"So, how did you like talking to one of the most famous slap guitarists of the Eastern World?" Sean asked me.

My eyebrows scrunched together as I looked up at his smirk. He was teasing me. "What are you talking about?"

The fingers on his other hand tapped out a rhythm on my knee. "I'm told you had a CD with a variety of music for yourself. One of the songs was by the J-Rock star, Loki, right?"

My eyes widened. I was surprised that he knew the contents of one of the CDs I burned while I still lived with my stepmother and father. There was nothing to hide from him, but I felt odd he knew about my eclectic tastes in music. Hopefully, he didn't judge me too harshly on my varying tastes. What did a song by Loki have to do with…

"Dr. Sean, what are you saying?" I clutched at the front of his scrubs, fisting the material. I was quickly jumping to conclusions, and I didn't want to believe them.

He laughed at me. "I'm saying my cousin Renji is the lead guitar player for Loki's band, and you, Pookie, just spoke to him."

My mouth fell open. Sean tapped it back closed with a fingertip to my chin.

"If you want, I can probably set up a call with him for you. Maybe I can even con him into autographing something. Just don't flirt with him." Sean booped my nose.

I cracked a grin through my shocked stupor for realizing that I was just speaking to an international celebrity. "No. You get to flirt with Loki instead."

Sean playfully glared at me. I cherished the moment. For a fleeting second, he had forgotten about what oppressed him, his unknown past coming back to haunt him. In this moment, he was still my Dr. Sean Green.

He must have seen my thoughts in my eyes, for his face slowly fell until the despair crept back into him, sucking the joy right back out. I wanted to cry, to yell at the bad thoughts and feelings to leave him alone. Sean didn't deserve to be tormented like this.

Instead of yelling, I had to do what Renji told me to do. I had to find something for him to grasp onto to pull him to the future. Sean's cousin reminded him that his foundations in the past are still solid and full of happy memories. It was my job to propel him into tomorrow. The question was… how?

"Alright, kids," Dr. Pickett said as he stood from his seat and stretched. "It's time for us to make some rounds, Dr. Green." He looked at me and frowned slightly. "I'm sorry, Miss Sang, but I have to ask you not to tag along. I still can't leave Dr. Green alone right now, and the rooms won't accommodate the three of us all together."

No! I had a mission! I was supposed to work on making things better! How could I do that if I wasn't allowed to be near Sean?

Dr. Green patted my knee just before he stood too. "I'm sorry, Sang. I promise to stay out of trouble." The shadow of despair was hanging over him again. "Call me if you need anything, okay?"

My tongue was glued to the roof of my mouth. I couldn't make myself speak, so I reluctantly nodded, then watched their backs as they left the Staff Lounge.


	9. Chapter 9

Again I was left by myself in the big, maze-like hospital. Typically I had issues with privacy at home and at school. One of the boys was always in my company, never leaving me alone. For the most part, I didn't mind. Most of my teenage years was spent in solitude, whether I was in my bedroom by myself or walking through the woods. Having someone constantly around was a pleasant change to that lonely lifestyle. Especially in light of the recent problems with Mr. McCoy trying to stalk me, my boys were my safety net, always vigilant in keeping me safe. Occasionally, I felt as if I was a burden on them with always needing to plan around who was going to babysit me. I sometimes found myself wanting for a few moments with no one else around, both for their sake along with mine.

Now that I found myself alone, my mouth stretched open to try and get my foot inside. The fairy tale moral 'Be careful what you wish for' came to mine. I was willing to say or do anything to have my one of the boys next to me right in that moment.

The pity party needed to stop. I had a mission to accomplish, and failure was not an option. Resolve coursed through me, and I was determined to make a plan and execute it for Sean's sake.

The question was…where to start?

My own recent epiphany came to mine. I was in Sean's shoes not that long ago, but I steeled myself to face my demons for the sake of moving forward. Mr. Blackbourne had requested of me over breakfast to ask my stepmother if she knew who my birth mother was. At first, I refused. The thought of delving into the past scared me, and I selfishly wanted to simply focus on the future and how I could join the Academy alongside Kota and the others. Yet Lilly said the Academy was going to dig up my past if I was to join anyways, so it was best if I found out for myself first. In my situation, I needed to confront my past in order to confidently approach the future.

Part of my past was in one of these hospital rooms. I visited my stepmother once after I resolved to do whatever I could to help Mr. Blackbourne investigate my origins, but that approach wasn't successful. I did a good job to not think about my stepmother the entire time I was in the hospital until now. Now, my usual paranoia that she could hear me, or come around the corner to drag me by the hair to sit on a stool for hours, coursed through me. Were there enough nurses to keep tabs on her and in in her room? Or was I going to accidentally bump into her in the hallway? Suddenly, I wanted to sneak down to the windowless office that smelled like the boys. That was a safe place for me to hide and stay out of trouble.

Except if I hid, I would not be able to help Dr. Sean. Was I coward? Or was I his friend? I couldn't be both.

I was neither. I wasn't a coward, and I was more than a friend. I was Sean's _kazoku_. Family. That trumped everything. A quick self-pep talk reminded me that my stepmother made herself abundantly clear that she wanted nothing to do with me. Even if we did meet in the hospital hallways, she was not a factor in the current situation. I couldn't let my demons get in the way of my mission. If my stepmother did try to become my problem again, then Dr. Sean was a redline away. I had faith he would still help me, even if he was off kilter with Jacking on his mind.

So to step into the future with Dr. Sean, I had to first conquer his past. His past was allegedly Jackie. I needed to learn more about Jackie. If I learned more about her first, I could help him ease into the knowledge. One of us could be the calm, the rock, as the other fell into the shock of learning this new information. I could support him when he found out for himself.

From there, we plan out the future we want and strive for it. Just like I'm striving to be Academy alongside my boys.

With this newfound determination, I confidently backtracked down the hall to room 367.

Too much thought and effort went into the two knocks upon the door. Nervousness made me not want to strike either too hard or too soft. I didn't want to put Jackie on the defensive, but I wanted her to have the warning that I was entering.

The first attempt worked; Jackie called out a, "Come in," to me.

Leaving the door half open, I went fully into the room. O told my mouth to smile, but my lips didn't listen to me.

She was still in her bed with the blankets arranged so one leg was uncovered. An IV line still led to the back of her hand, and her other hand used the remote control wired through the bed to turn down the volume of the television.

"Welcome back," she said to me with a hint of sarcasm. "Do you know when I can get discharged?"

My head shook back and forth. I had my guess as to when she could be released, but I wasn't a doctor, and I didn't want to get her hopes up. "I'm sorry. That's up to a doctor, but even if you could go, the streets are still flooded outside. We are all stuck here for now."

To punctuate my statement, a bright flash of lightning and a quickly following crash of thunder happened outside.

Ms. Jackie took in a deep breath and relaxed into the back of her propped up bed as she released the air from her lungs. He hazel eyes looked at me from head to toe. "I'm associating the look of you with my past now. It's not your fault, but the sight of you hurts," she admitted.

Should I have been offended? I wasn't too sure, but I did recognize it as an opportunity to stick my foot into the proverbial door. If I was careful, I could guide the conversation to what I wanted to discuss. I remembered how I used to carefully word my answer to my stepmother when she spoke to me. Depending on her mood, when she last took her medication, and how I replied, I could either weasel my way out of a punishment, or make it worse. Fear and anxiety tried to rise in me, but I smothered them down. Ms. Jackie wasn't my mother. She was nothing for me to be afraid of.

"I'm sorry," I apologized first out of habit, then followed up with some reverse psychology. There was a good change his approach would backfire on me, but I didn't have enough time to brainstorm a backup plan. Crossing my fingers behind my back for luck would have to do. "Do you want me to leave?"

Her bright blonde hair reflected the light from the fluorescent bulbs around her as she shook her head back and forth. "No. Don't go. I want to be selfish." Her fingers were thin and already starting to show the beginning signs of aging as she picked and twisted the hem of her scratchy looking blanket. "Stay, please. If you have the time, I want to talk more. I've bottled all this up for twenty years, and you're the only one I can tell."

A small part of me was happy that she was opening to me like I hoped, but my heart ached with the results already coming from my success. Sean wasn't the only one hurting in this situation. While Sean had managed to come to terms before about who he was and who he considered to be family, Jackie had been carrying this burden for decades. Without realizing it, I managed to have picked at a scab that never managed to heal underneath.

Hopefully, my question to help Dr. Sean could also bring closure to this woman. Then I realized the only way to truly bring closure to her turmoil would be to produce the baby she had all those years ago. Would that really help her in the end? She did fall into a hysterics when she thought she was in the same place as her abandoned child. Was finding the baby what she really wanted? And if that baby was indeed Dr. Sean, would that fact hurt him more?

I already had a plan of action. I had to stick to it. My job was to gather information at this stage, so I sat in the chair across from the foot of her bed to indicate I was willing to listen to what she had to say, whether it was good, bad, or indifferent. Right now, all she wanted was to talk and unload her secret.

Jackie chuckled as she tried to smooth her hair down in the back, but her laugh held no humor. "Now that it comes down to it, I don't know where to start."

The issue was…I didn't either. My planning didn't get into the details as to what exactly I wanted to find out from her, so I didn't have a list of questions or an idea to break the ice. What was I supposed to discover about her anyways? She already told me how her unwanted baby came to be and where she left him. That was the extent of her knowledge about him, or so I assumed.

"Why don't you tell me about yourself to start?" I suggested.

Her head nodded as she looked out the window and the rain still coming down. "Yeah. Sure. I'm Jaqueline, 35 years old." She started off with the rudiments of introducing herself, which is a good as a start as any, I figured. "I work at a car dealership here in Charleston. I do the paperwork for the tags and titling. Been doing that for ten years now." Her head turned so she could look at me. I did my best not to cower under her gaze. "There's nothing interesting about me. Should I say what my hobbies are?"

I smiled encouragingly at her. "If you want. It makes up who you are, doesn't it?"

Her lips lifted in her own smile that didn't reach her eyes. "Might as well. I cook. French cuisine is my specialty, but I also like to experiment with fusion gourmet and create new recipes. I have a blog and even sold one recipe to Carrabba's."

Well, that bit of intelligence seemed like proof enough that her child and Sean were not the same person. Sean certainly did not inherit a skill for cooking. He couldn't possibly be related to this lady.

A voice in my thoughts that strangely sounded a lot like Kota chastised me and reminded me that culinary skills were learned, not genetic, so the mystery of Dr. Green's parentage was still on the table.

"What's your favorite dish to cook?" I asked to keep the conversation going.

"Dutch apple pie," was her reply. "I wait until it's apple season for the fresh apples, not that cold storage crap in the grocery stores, so I only bake the pie up for a quarter of the year. Even the crumble topping is from scratch."

My heart stopped beating in my chest. Maybe they were related after all. The power of apple pie transcended forces of nature and genetics, didn't it?

Jackie sighed. "I'm so dumb. Here I am, whining and bitching that I don't ever get to tell people the crap that bugs me, and when I get the chance, I can't spit it out." Her hand rubbed over where the IV snaked through the vein in the back of her other hand. After a deep breath, she continued speaking. "I don't remember the baby's birthday."

 _Shoot. That would have been handy information to have._

She continued, her eyes darting back and forth from drop to drop that was sticking to the glass of the window. "I found him a few years ago. Clifford, the father, on Facebook. I love and hate Facebook at the same time. You know how orphans have been putting up pictures holding up signs about where they were born and are trying to find their biological parents for people to share? I hate those. They wind up on my feed all the time, and I have to force myself not to look at them as I scroll on by. I'm a coward, too afraid that the baby I left at the hospital is one of those pictures being shared. Go ahead and tell me I'm a horrible person for it."

My lips were pursed together, refusing to open as I shook my head back and forth. I wasn't able to formulate an opinion about her decisions or feelings as of yet. I was too busy trying to get a handle on my own emotions with her confession. Tears were threatening to fall from the corners of my eyes, and I willed them to stay. I didn't want to chance them being misinterpreted into something that might offend Jackie and get her to clam up. I needed her to say more. I needed to know more.

She obviously thought herself to be a horrible person for her actions anyways. There was no need for me to judge her on top of that.

"Oh yeah. I found Cliff. I didn't friend him, or anything. Didn't even say hi. I just peeked at his profile. He keeps it public. Turns out he joined the marines not too long after high school graduation, got married, divorced, and married another _dependa_ with three of her own kids. He's at Camp Pendleton last I checked."

I had no idea what a 'dependa' was, but the way she said the term implied it wasn't a nice label to be associated with.

"I see now just how much of a loser he really was. Is. I don't remember what I saw in him, and I sure as hell don't see it now." She kept talking, not looking at me. Jackie could have been talking to herself, and I wondered if I was able to sneak out of the room and not make a difference with her. I wasn't going to do that; I needed to hear every word she uttered and remember it for later. "But what can I say about that? I'm a loser myself who hasn't moved on from a mistake made all the way back in high school. I'm an old maid by now, stuck in a dead end job that pushes paper work for a living. No house plants. No pets. I can't even keep a hermit crab alive longer for three months."

I glanced at her face and saw tears were streaming down her cheeks. A box of tissues were on the window ledge, so I got up to grab them and put them on the overtable for her to dab at her face. Her voice didn't waiver at all when she spoke, so I didn't know when she started to cry. I didn't know how long she had been weeping as she shared me her story.

"God, I'm so pathetic. I don't have a life, and I lose my shit when I wake up in a hospital. I'm only now coming to this realization, little miss. I need to do something with myself. Don't let your regrets hold you down, missy. It hurts. Don't be like me." Jackie took a second tissue after the first one soaked through and ripped into shreds from use.

Words failed me. I had no idea what I could possibly say to her. I needed an excuse to find someplace quiet and write all these details down before I forgot them too. The two of us settled into a silence, and I reviewed everything she told me, going over the information repeatedly to burn them into my memory.

"There was someone other than the doctor and you when I woke up." Her words startled me out of my concentration. "Who is he?" she asked.

"Johnny Galloway," I answered. I had nearly forgotten about him. "He's the one who found you when you drowned and brought you here. He was asking about you earlier. Would you be willing to talk to him?"

She nodded with a third tissue pressed to her red nose. "Yeah. I need to thank him, don't I?"

"Give me a few minutes, and he'll be right in." This proved to be the perfect excuse for me to take my leave and find the time to note down Jackie's story before I misremembered things. First, I had to go back to the cafeteria and talk to Mr. Johnny.

 **A/N: Dependa – derogatory name for the negative stereotype of military wives, generally unemployed, neglectful of their children, and married to a service member mainly to take advantage of their spouse's health care benefits and other federal perks. Term is shortened from "dependapotamus."**


	10. Chapter 10

The cafeteria was one of the best places to waste time within the hospital. One just needed to idly snack on something at one of the many semi-comfortable table and chair settings, and anyone would assume the person was on a well-deserved break from their busy work day. Munching in a cafeteria was an excellent place to blend in and not be noticed. Add in a book to bury one's nose in, and the situation was guaranteed to look inconspicuous. That was how I survived public school before moving to South Carolina. I had perfected the skill of being shy.

Too bad I didn't have a book on me. Or money to buy a snack. I didn't even have the means to get a simple bottle of water. If I wanted to stay in the cafeteria, I would be reduced to play on my phone and looking bored at a television screen showing nothing but flooded streets. Appearing to be bored while unaccompanied was practically inviting strangers to talk to me, and I have already met so many new people today. I was tangled up in so much of their business, there was no more energy to even attempt to connect to more strangers if I could help it.

I needed time to think about my mission. How to help fix Dr. Sean. Since the cafeteria wasn't suitable, my remaining option was the office that smelled like the boys, the office where whispers of their presence lingered.

For the second time that day, I trekked to the basement level and to the unmarked door past the sign that said the area was for employees only. The door was still unlocked from the last time I was there, which was probably a bad thing. Anyone could have entered and taken the stuff inside. I didn't keep anything important in my overnight bag other than a small amount of cash, but the boys have taught me that money is a trivial thing. I wouldn't miss thirty dollars or the change of soggy clothes if my bag was taken. I was more worried for Dr. Sean's bag and the manila files forever piled on the center table. Those were vastly more important than my material possessions.

I needed to ask if I could be allowed a key to this office since I was spending more time here. The boys already trusted me with the keys to their homes, even if I rarely used them. Kota said I would get keys to their cars when I started driving too. Having access to this room was along the same lines right?

Maybe not. Why should the responsibility of a facility within a hospital be given to a plain girl who didn't work there? If I were to forget to lock up, and things went missing, Dr. Green would be the one to get into trouble. I did not want to risk his career, so I resolved to ask for access each time and be careful to lock up every time.

I settled onto a two seater couch along the side wall. The upholstery smelled lightly of musk. North's seat. My feet slipped out of my sandals and tucked in under me as I leaned into the arm of the sofa, trying to sort my tangled mess of thoughts.

A few minutes later, the door swing open without a shred of warning. I bolted upright from the loveseat, then sank back into my seat with a groan when I realized I left the door unlocked _again_. No keys for Sang. I wasn't responsible enough to be trusted with them.

Dr. Green's eyes stared wide at me when he froze in the doorway. "Sang? Why are you here?"

My heart sang, weighing heavily in the pit of my stomach. He didn't want me. I was in his way. A burden. A nuisance.

"I'm sorry." My voice waivered. "I didn't have any place else to go."

He stepped fully inside and closed the door behind him. "Why do you look like I just snatched your favorite kitten right out of your hands?"

My body rattled and shook as I tried desperately to reign in sobs. It took so much effort to control myself, my tongue refused to work. I could not answer him.

Dr. Green made his way over to me and sunk down into the couch beside me. He sat far enough so no parts of us made contact. Several inches separated us from one another.

I curled up tighter into my ball against the arm rest.

"I pretty much have done just that to you, haven't I?" he spoke while running his hand over his face. "I've been nothing but a genuine asshole to you, and you don't deserve that."

I didn't know what to say, so a few moments of loud silence hung between us, neither one looked at the other.

"Sang. I don't know how to apologize. I don't think I can, not because I don't want to. There's no possible way you can forgive me for the way I hurt you today. I don't deserve forgiveness." The more he spoke, the less energy he had, like he was falling further and further into his hole of self-loathing and coming to accept his terms of hopelessness.

But he was wrong. I had already forgiven him. I just didn't know how to tell him.

He kept rambling on, and I didn't have the heart to stop him. Sometimes people just needed to talk, right? I have never seen Dr. Green in a slump before, so I didn't know if he needed to talk to unwind, or if he needed a different outlet. Talking could be how he buried himself deeper into his despair.

"I've always been impulsive. I do the first thing that comes to mind. I fixate on it until I get it done, rules be damned. Rules are just limitations, boundaries to control people and keep them safe. That's why I grew up so disobedient. I knew I could do so much more than what people wanted of me. Expect of me."

As he talked, I slowly uncurled from my ball and edged closer to him. Inch by inch.

"Until it just became habit to not trust anyone and break the rules just because I could. Drove my mom nuts." He grunted and smothered his face in his hands for several seconds. "I assessed the risks and did things my way, which was usually ten times more efficient than going by the book. As you say, anything in my way becomes my enemy, something that is trying to hold me back from my true potential, or whatever it is I want.

"I'm only human, Sang. I betrayed your trust when you were doing the right thing. I just bowled right over you and left you in the mud. You must hate me."

I couldn't find any words to argue with him, but my heart was lurching. I needed to tell him he was wrong, that I understood, and I did not hate him.

"I've gone and shown you the ugly part of me," he said. "You see the bad half. I've shattered your fantasy of the Good Doctor. Hell, I don't know why the staff here calls me that to begin with," he kept on talking.

I was through with his words. All of them were false. He had everything wrong. But I didn't know how to tell him. Words wouldn't work.

So I didn't use words. Instead I used his cure for giggles. The principle to stop noise coming from the mouth was the same, wasn't it?

One hand anchored myself on his shoulder and my other hand reached across him to cup his cheek and turn his head toward me. I had to lift myself on my knees to reach him and press my lips against his, being careful not to be too hard. It all happened in a split second. My kiss cut him off mid word.

My eyes were open. Narrowed, but open. I saw his eyes grow wide in surprise, the hazel ring in the middle of the green making itself known to me once more. I watched it narrow and disappear as the black of his pupils dilated, eating away at the color of his irises. Soon, his eyelids follow suit and narrowed.

His lips pressed into mine harder before he backed up. Our mouths separated with an audible kiss sound. It was the only noise in the room after Dr. Sean ceased talking, and the percussive sound filled the air, seeming to linger over us.

"Sang…" he breathed before slip fingers into my hair and crashing his lips against mine again. His turned toward me more, and I fisted his scrubs at his shoulders.

His kisses were short, hard, and loud. These kisses were nothing like what we did earlier, outside when the rain started. That was a passion that burst after the pressure and tension of teasing each other built up.

This, now, was desperation. This was clinging to what was real, grasping onto a lifeline before the current of the flood swept him away to drown. I was his rock, his stability, and I needed to just remind him I was still here for him to hold onto.

The kisses travelled from my lips to pepper all over my cheeks, forehead, chin, to over my closed eyelids and on the tip of my nose. Then, he pressed his forehead on mine, eyes closed and breathing heavy.

My breaths matched his.

"Why, Sang? Why are you still here? I don't deserve you. I'm a monster."

The rush of his whispered words brushed over my lips.

"I take you for who you are," I answered him quietly. We were the only ones in the room, but I spoke as if others could listen, and I wanted him to be the only one to hear me. "The good, the bad, and everything in between. I take it all."

What kind of person would I be if I only accepted the parts of him I liked? That would be like hacking off an arm and a leg from him and calling what was left perfect. I understood no one's life was a walk in the park with constant and perpetual sunshine, rainbows, and unicorns. While I like the flirting, how he always listened to me even when I had nothing to say, and the way he pushed me past my own barrier, Dr. Sean was still human, a rather amazing specimen of the species, but human.

He had helped me see through some of the brightest and darkest parts of my life already. That's how relationships work, whether between friends or more than that. People in any level of relationship help and support each other through thick and thin.

I cared for Dr. Green. Sean. I let him know my shuffling to his lap and wrapping my arms around his neck, showing him I took all of him.

His arms went around my ribs, holding me tight against him. His breath was lost into my hair.

"I'm already wild about you, Sang. You're not making it any better this way," he murmured into my ear.

"Is this a bad thing?" I asked rhetorically.

"If it is, I don't care," he answered anyways as he moved my hair away from my neck, replacing it with his mouth. His lips nibbled, sucked, and kissed the soft skin under my ear.

I forgot how to breathe until he reminded me to exhale by whispering into my lobe.

My arms loosened from around him as my head tilted to the side to give him better reach to my neck. His attention to me there was doing funny things to my tummy and toes. Exhilarating things. I liked it. I didn't want it to stop.

My fingers tan through his sandy curls, nails scraping against his scalp before gently tugging strands straight His hair was longer than it looked. The locks were softer than they appeared to be.

The tip of his nose traced a path up my cheek, leaving a trail of electricity in its wake until we were surrounded by a haze of static. If I were to tilt my head, a spark was sure to jolt between our lips. I wanted it.

I brought my mouth toward his, but he moved with me and kept the same distance between us, only allowing his nose to ghost over my skin.

His lips curled up into an amused grin. He was playing with me.

I leaned in again, trying to capture his lips in a kiss. Again, he eluded me, chuckling at my failure to catch him.

So I decided to play by his rules. My hands cupped the sides and back of his neck, holding him still with his head straight. I shifted until I sat on his knees, my own on either side of his lap. Then I leaned into him until the end of my nose brushed against his chin. His whiskers were just starting to emerge, more felt than seen. The friction made from my nose going up and against the grain was delicious and contrasted with how smooth his face was when I traveled down his cheek.

Sean's breathing hitched when I nudged the corner of his mouth, then lightly nuzzled across his soft lips. The chapstick he wore was cherry flavored by its smell, even if it had been several hours since he last applied any.

He was perfectly still after I let go of his neck. My hands went to his shoulders and dragged down to the front of his scrubs. Underneath the layer of toothpaste green, I could feel a hard and solid chest.

My nose teased over the side of his nose. My lips feathered over his. Both of us were breathing through our mouths. Our breaths mingled together.

"Sang…" he whispered against me.

I leaned back to put space between us. My eyes looked down to where m hands were upon his chest. I was suddenly afraid of his rejection, that I was being too forward or teasing with him. I was doing this wrong.

I didn't realize my bottom lip was between my teeth until Sean lunged forward and pulled it out with a kiss, drawing it into his own to nibble and gently scrape with his teeth. My lip stretched as he pulled back, popping back to my face as he let go.

I touched my mouth with my fingertips, amazed at how tingly my lip felt. It was wet and slightly swollen, and it felt good.

Sean smirked, proud of himself and his work. I smiled back.

His hands went to my hips and pulled me further up his legs. His thighs were much more comfortable than sitting on his knees. My skirt rode up higher on my legs the closer I scooted.

Sean noticed the exposed skin. His fingers touched the hem of my skirt, then raked down my thighs all the way down to my knees on either side of his hips, He traced little circles that tickled on my kneecaps.

I don't know who started the kiss first. Perhaps we both did and met in the middle. Our lips danced with each other to an unheard rhythm, a beat that we could not hear but felt thundering through us.

I licked at his lip, wanting to taste him. I tasted the lingering chapstick.

His tongue came out to return the favor, but my own had not returned behind my lips yet. Sean snagged the opportunity to draw my tongue into his mouth, caressing it with his own around a moan.

His hands grasped and held onto the flesh of my thighs. I didn't know whether it was to keep me still or to anchor himself. I was too wrapped up in his kiss to care.

My eyes were closed, letting the sensations of touch, touching Dr. Green, Sean, overtake me. My heart felt like it was going to explode with the intensity of our kiss.

Instead, my heart leapt out of my chest and stuck to the ceiling when the door to the office swung open and banged against the chair tucked to the wall beside it. I squeaked in surprise.

Dr. Green grunted and immediately pulled my skirt down to better cover my legs.

"Found you!" The Texan twang came from the doorway. "Right where you're supposed to be."

I turned my head to see Nurse Becks there, looking and observing the pair of us. "And boy, what a state I find you in too." She smiled coyly.

I hid my burning cheeks in my hands and pressed my face into Dr. Green's shoulder, praying for the upholstery of the sofa would swallow us whole and save me from this embarrassment.

"Am I needed somewhere?" Dr. Green asked her as he rubbed my back comfortingly. He knew how mortified I was in this awkward situation.

"Actually," Nurse Becks said, hesitating before continuing, "that's up to you."

Dr. Green shifted a little under me. "I don't understand."

Nurse Becks took a moment. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw her shift her weight back and forth on her feet. She was nervous. "I went ahead and ran the comparative DNA test on the blood samples you drew. The results are in."


	11. Chapter 11

" _I went ahead and ran the comparative DNA test on the blood samples you drew," said Nurse Becks. "The results are in."_

My head flung upward from where it rested on Dr. Green's chest. I nearly took his chin out with my forehead. Every muscle in my body was tense and twitching. I looked like a mess of a Chihuahua jittering with anxiety.

Dr. Green only stared blankly at the door. His eyes weren't even focused on Nurse Becks.

My thoughts went into a panic. He and I were just making headway. We were taking the first steps down the path of healing and acceptance.

Okay, so we were making out on a couch in an office in the basement of a hospital, but that was certainly progress from the festering anger he was in earlier. Right?

We just put a bandage on the wound of his heart when it came to questioning who his parents were. Nurse Becks didn't mean to, but she just ripped that band-aid off his still bleeding gash and exposed the raw nerve endings to the harsh bite of open air.

He made two steps forward, but I feared two sentences sent him falling back three.

What was I to do? Was there anything I _could_ do to help? At this pivotal point, I was in the way. I weighed Dr. Green down, who was still staring catatonically at a door hinge.

I slipped off his lap and settled into the cushion beside him. I smoothed my skirt to make sure I was decent. The little movements helped to hide just how my heart had turned into a stone and weighed heavily in the pit of my stomach.

Sean woke up from his staring spell, pivoted at his hips, and grabbed my cheeks between his palms. A smashing skis pressed onto my mouth with only a shred of warning but still catching me by surprise. My mouth was open.

That was his way to tell me he acknowledged I was there with him. He knew he wasn't alone. He wasn't going to leave me behind again.

"Go ahead and lay it on me," he said to Nurse Becks after he released my face and turned back around. His hand found mind, and our fingers intertwined together between us. "If you don't tell me now, I'll just be calling and bugging you about it in a week. We might as well get it over with now."

I was proud of him in making this choice. I believed it was the right one, even after I managed to set aside my burning curiosity to know the results for myself.

Nurse Becks stepped full into the room and closed the door behind her. She wasted no time in situating into a seat near ours. Her hands shook and waved in front of her, like she was trying to rid her arms of a case of the jitters. She spoke when her fingers stilled in her lap. "It's positive, sweetheart. Jackie is your blood mother."

Silence surrounded us.

Sean's hand squeezed mine. Tears were falling down my cheeks, and I didn't know why.

Nurse Becks closed her eyes. She looked apologetic. "I have to put the results in my report, but I won't breathe a word of this to anyone. I'll pinky promise if you want me to."

"Thank you, Becks." Dr. Green's tone was deadpan. "I'll take you on your word."

She bit her lip and pushed on her knees to stand. "I'm of no more use here. I'll get moving so this news can soak in. Y'all know how to reach me or Ty." Nurse Becks looked over the shoulder of her navy blue scrubs just before she disappeared through the door. "Just…don't let it marinate too long. It'll go rancid before you know it."

Sean and I sat side-by-side with hands clasped together. We stared at a filing cabinet The sticky note I left on one drawer was bright and called attention to itself.

He pulled his fingers from mine and stood. I panicked silently until I saw he just went over to the table and pulled a tissue from a box. He sank to a squat in front of my knees and dabbed the tissue against my face to soak up my tears. As soon as he mopped those up, new tears formed to replace them.

"Pookie, why are you crying?" he asked me with concern.

I had to peel my tongue from the roof of my mouth to speak. "I don't know." My voice quivered only a little. "I don't know what to do. I don't know how to feel. I'm afraid for you. This changes everything."

His lips pursed, and he looked to the side. Then, he sat beside me and gathered me up to sit across his lap. My arms went around his neck, and I clung to him. His fingers reached down my legs and slipped my sandals off my feet, dropping them to the floor.

"No, it doesn't change anything," he said with his lips against my scalp. The breath with his words was warm. "All this means in the long run is that there is a new name or two added to my file. I've thrown my tantrum. That's all done. I have my family. I've chosen you, and you've chosen me." His arms wrapped around me in a hug. "At least I'm under the impression you at least like me a little."

I cracked a smile against his collar bone.

"My job now is to take care of you," he whispered.

We sat nuzzled into each other for a while, giving me enough time for me to rein in my emotions and get the tears to stop.

Once my brain started thinking coherent thoughts again, I realized we only solved half the equation.

I sat up and looked Dr. Sean in the eyes. "What about Ms. Jackie? Do we tell her?"

Sean took a moment before answering. "I don't know if she even wants to find out."

Part of the problem was that neither did I.

"We can ask her," Sean suggested, then followed up with a cringe. He knew as much as I did how much of a bad idea that way. It would be a crime to approach her and dangle how we knew the answer to her deepest secret. We either had to confront her if we were certain she was receptive to the news, or not bring it up at all. If she didn't want to know, then she certainly would not approve knowing strangers holding the knowledge.

I released a deep breath as my thoughts turned to a different direction. "Dr. Sean. She's hurting This has been eating away at her like a cancer longer than you have been alive."

His green eyes bore into me, channeling his undivided attention to what I had to say.

I blushed slightly. "I went to talk to her again. She was the one who did all the talking."

Sean chuckled, making his chest rumble. "That doesn't surprise me. You don't talk much."

I didn't argue with him. He was right. "She didn't say it outright, but she feels like she can't live her life to the fullest. She keeps hiding from facing the truth, and she's tired from it. Jackie finally admitted her guilt that she has been carrying for most of her life. She wants the weight off her shoulders."

"You want to fix her too, hm?" he commented before pressing a kiss to the top of my head. "You're a slave to your big heart."

He took in his own dep breath, then let it out in a whoosh. "Telling her won't take away her guilt. She still has to live with the decision for the rest of her life. Knowing about me might very well make that guilt worse. What she has been in denial about suddenly is right in front of her face changes everything for her, and she may not choose to cope."

"How will you feel if she doesn't cope?" I asked.

"Like shit." He squeezed me to him as he answered. "I will be the guilty one for stressing out the poor woman- the lady who gave birth to me. I'd become her living nightmare, and knowing I exist under her nose will certainly keep her from living her life. I don't know if I can live with that."

I flipped over the proverbial coin. "What about keeping the secret between us? How would you feel then?" He took a moment to think. "Selfish. It's taking the easy way out, and I would be guilty of the same thing she is: burying the truth until it fester and poisons me too. I'd be a phantom, forever haunting her life, and I'm not a big fan of horror ghost stories. That's Nathan's thing."

I pushed at his shoulder to remind him not to get side tracked with jokes.

We sat in more silence for several minutes, contemplating various aspects on how to handle this information.

Maybe I could turn the tide.

"She makes a really good Dutch apple pie."

Sean stopped breathing for several heartbeats.

"My mom," he began, "not Jackie, but the one I know, she never made pie. It's too American for her taste, so she never learned how to make it. We had to buy apple pie from the grocery store. Instead of baking apples, she instead cut them up fresh for me. Every slice she fashioned into a rabbit with just a paring knife. I hated waiting for her to finish up, but how cute they were was worth the patience."

I wondered if I could learn how to cut apples into bunnies to make Sean happy.

"You already have chosen your family," I reaffirmed what we both already knew.

"Yeah, but the question is: do I want to choose Jackie Brown to be family too? Does she want to choose me?" He huffed as his spoken thoughts continued. "She already chose, and she chose _no_ so long ago."

I shook my head at him. "That doesn't matter. It doesn't matter what she chooses. This is a matter of acknowledging facts."

Our foreheads rested against each other. Green eyes stared into green eyes.

"I have a big feeling you're right," he whispered with a mischievous glint flashing across the seriousness of his gaze. He was teasing me again.

I sat up, pulling our faces apart. "Of course I'm right. I'm the girl here!"

"Yes," he chuckled. "Yes you are, Sang."

I didn't know if he was saying that about me being right or to me being a girl.

The humor seeped out of him as his face sank to something more serious. "It's a blow to what little pride I have left, but I need to talk to Owen."

I flushed as guilt overcame me. I was supposed to keep reporting in to Mr. Blackbourne to update him on how the situation was progressing. I failed.

However, Sean reaching out to his best friend was a very good sign. I remembered how dejected Mr. Blackbourne sounded when we last spoke on the phone. He cared for Dr. Green and knew just how much an upset Sean hurt those around him.

"Do you want me to give you privacy?" I asked.

Dr. Sean shook his head. "You're welcome to stay here with me. I'm still not allowed to be by myself for longer than a tinkle in the little boys room anyways."

He tapped my thigh, and I slipped off his lap to curl up against the arm of the couch again. He stood and pulled his phone in the purple case from a pocket at his hip.

"I do want to warn you that phone calls between Owen and me aren't always civil," he said as he tapped at the screen. "Don't let that worry you. It's normal for us."

Now that he mentioned it, I wasn't surprised at the confession. They were best friends, but their personalities were polar opposites from one another.

"Owen?" he said into the phone. His eyebrows furrowed together as he listened. "Get inside. You're insane for being out in that weather. I'm supposed to be the crazy one. I need to talk to you anyways."

He paced back and forth in the small floor space that wasn't occupied by furniture. He listened some more before pulling the phone from his ear and pressing end.

I blinked in disbelief. That was the shortest phone call I ever witnessed. Sean wasn't even able to mention the purpose of the call.

"Is he okay?" I asked.

Sean put his phone back into his scrubs pocket. "I don't know. He just said there's something waiting for us at the Welcome Desk." He held out his hand to me. "Want to go see what the water brings in this time?" His eyebrows waggled at me playfully.

"But…what about…" I stuttered. There was unfinished business we still had to attend to. Plus, how did something manage to make it through the flood waters surrounding the hospital campus? I was fairly certain mail trucks weren't amphibious.

"Come on, Sang." His fingers wiggled at me. "Jackie isn't going anywhere. We can afford to procrastinate a little."

My hand went into his, trusting his judgement. Our hands stayed clasped together as we left the office for the elevator.


	12. Chapter 12

Three people were at the Welcome Desk when the elevator doors opened to let Dr. Green and I out at the front lobby. One of those people was Susan, who never seemed to stray from her position behind the counter.

The other two had their backs to us and were folding up bright yellow ponchos. Both were obviously men. The shorter of the two wore a black polo shirt tucked into khaki colored cargo pants. The other wore blue jeans that hugged his thighs and a dark blue wind breaker. I immediately recognized this one to be Silas. My heart picked up its pace, and I wanted little more than to run full speed right into his arms. I missed him that much.

What stopped me was the person with him. The thought of another stranger nearby had me wanting to fall back to my shy habits where I kept my head down, avoided all eye contact, and prayed no one noticed me.

I let Dr. Green step ahead a pace so I could fall back and hide behind him. "Well lookie there," he said while looking toward the people at the desk. As he spoke, his arm reached back and slipped over my shoulders to guide me forward and even with his side. I couldn't tell if he simply wanted me closer, or if he was refusing to let me hide.

At the sound of Dr. Green's voice, Silas turned, saw us, and smiled in recognition. His whole face lit up with happiness. "Hi, Doc. Hello, _Aggele,_ " he called out to us as we approached.

The other man accepted a plastic grocery bag from Susan and put his poncho folded into a perfect square into it to keep any lingering raindrops from falling to the floor. He turned so I could see his profile when he took Silas' poncho, which wasn't folded as neatly into the same square corners, to also put in the bag.

I knew who he was when I saw the arm of the black glasses along the side of his face and hooking behind his ear.

Mr. Blackbourne.

Dr. Green pulled his arm away from me when Silas approached. The tallest of the boys my subconscious was beginning to claim as my own gathered me into a hug, squeezing me tightly until I could only take in tiny breaths. He didn't lift me up like he usually did, probably because Susan was well within sight. Silas was showing me how much he missed me without being inappropriate to a stranger's eyes.

Silas gave me a final squeeze, pushing the last bit of air from my lungs before releasing me and turning to Dr. Green. Silas placed his large hands on the doctor's shoulder and asked without words if Dr. Green was okay.

Dr. Green gave Silas a half smile and put his own hand on Silas' shoulder in a reassuring, brotherly gesture. "I'll be okay," Dr. Green said with half a voice.

"Miss Sorenson."

Like a trained puppy, I answered in kind to the remaining person to step up to our little gathering. "Mr. Blackbourne."

The grocery bag with the ponchos dangled from his fingers. He must have walked up when I was hugging Silas. Seeing him in something other than his usual grey suit had me off kilter; I'd seen him in golfing attire before, and what he wore now wasn't much different than that. The detail that clashed with his refined perfection was the pair of heavy rain boots on his feet.

How did Silas and Mr. Blackbourne get here? Why were they here? What were the four of us going to do now? Don't get me wrong. I was overjoyed they managed to brave the flood to arrive here, but my nervousness was more powerful.

Mr. Blackbourne took charge and gave us all direction. "Let's all head to our room, shall we?" He held out his hand without the bag toward the elevator Dr. Green and I just emerged from.

No one moved. Their eyes looked to me, waiting. My feet moved as soon as I realized they wanted me to lead. Ladies first.

With a quick summon of confidence, I led the three men to the elevator and down to the increasingly familiar room with the window mural painted on the back wall.

The moment we stepped inside and the door closed, I noticed Dr. Green's tense posture and hints of apprehension lining his face. He wasn't looking forward to this distraction from addressing the problem with his birth mother to be over so soon. I wished I could take his worry away for him.

I wasn't what the Good Doctor needed right then. He needed Mr. Blackbourne, who was reaching behind the filing cabinet to pull out a black garment bag embroidered with an elegantly scripted letter B.

Dr. Green moved the stacks of manila folders around to clear a space on the table in the center of the room. Mr. Blackbourne gently set the garment bag on the empty area and started unzipping it to reveal one of his signature grey suits, complete with a crisp, white shirt and tie. This tie was royal purple instead of his usual red.

As many times as I had been in this room, I never noticed a suit or the brown leather shoes Silas pulled from the bottom drawer of the filing cabinet. I knew the Academy boys were always prepared, but I couldn't help but wonder what other secrets were hidden about.

"We have a lot to catch up on," Mr. Blackbourne said as he began removing the fresh clothing from the storage bag. "Go ahead with your report," he said with his grey eyes looking to me from over the rims of his black framed glasses.

I sat on the edge of a chair and rambled on about the day's events, trying to cut out superfluous details, yet include enough of the pertinent stuff to create a complete picture from my point of view. The parts where Dr. Green and I kissed didn't make it into the narrative. What Jackie told me about her past and where Dr. Green's father is currently at Camp Pendleton did get mentioned.

As I spoke, Dr. Green and Silas listened with rapt attention. Mr. Blackbourne continued unpacking his clothes, looking up at me often to show he was absorbing my words. When his suit was laid out on the table, he stood and waited patiently for me to finish.

"You've done an amazing job," Mr. Blackbourne praised me. My face reddened at the compliment.

"I second that motion," Dr. Green added with a warm smile thrown to me.

While I admitted I'd done a lot of running around the hospital all day, I still felt like I hadn't done enough.

Mr. Blackbourne looked to Dr. Green. "Your turn," he said as he unbuttoned the neckline of his polo, then pulled the hem out from the waist of his khakis.

Silas gathered up my hand and tugged, urging me to my feet and toward the door. "Come on, _Aggele Mou._ "

The reason why Silas was leading me out finally materialized in my brain when Mr. Blackbourne lifted the black shirt over his head. I caught a glimpse of a white cotton undershirt that rose up a few inches as it chased after the black polo, revealing bare skin around his belly button. That was the most amount of Mr. Blackbourne's skin I'd ever seen.

Mr. Blackbourne was concentrating on what Dr. Green was saying, so neither of them saw my red cheeks as the office door closed and cut off the view of my violin teacher stripping. I realized then why Mr. Blackbourne had me explain myself and the development of the problem of the day first; I didn't have to witness him changing clothes as he continued working things out with Dr. Green.

Silas led me to a large general waiting room rain boots on his feet clomped noisily on the floor tiles as we walked. I didn't consciously notice the duffle slung over his shoulder until after he beckoned me to sit in a chair and hoisted the bag higher up on himself. "Text Kota," he instructed me, "while I go change. Let him know we made it in safely."

I watched him turn away from me and clomp to the men's room. His jeans were dark from being wet all the way up to his knees. No wonder he wanted to change. Wet clothes were uncomfortable, and I knew from recent firsthand experience.

The waiting room I was in wasn't exactly a room; it was more like an open area off of a corridor and was filled with chairs, coffee tables, and a large fish tank in the middle with brightly colored fish. I was the only person in this waiting area, but I didn't let myself believe that I was afforded complete privacy. Anyone walking by would be able to notice and hear anything that was said.

I stood and paced among the chairs as I texted Kota, reporting Mr. Blackbourne and Silas's arrival and wellbeing. His reply pinged through to my phone right as Silas returned wearing tennis shoes and dry clothes. The rain boots hung from his fingers down by his thigh.

 **Kota:** I'm glad they're safe. Stay close to Silas.

As soon as he was close enough, Silas dropped his overnight bag and let his boots plop to the floor next to him. Then, one arm was under my butt as he lifted me up for a proper hug. My feet automatically wrapped around his waist as he held each other tight.

He lowered himself to sit in a loveseat sofa, taking me with him. He helped me arrange my limbs so I sat across his lap and snuggled into his chest. Warmth radiated from him, and I pressed in close to siphon it out of him for myself.

Silas's hands rested around my waist as he nuzzled the hair at the top of my head with his nose. "How are you doing?" he asked me simply.

I couldn't help the slightly maniacal giggle that escaped me. While he most likely meant it as a simple pleasantry, the question was loaded. At least, the truthful answer was laden and heavy, considering what has happened throughout the day. "I'm happy you're here," I answered honestly. I didn't say the part where I was utterly exhausted and at the end of my rope on what to do with Dr. Green's problem.

I sat up and poked Silas right in the chest with my eyebrows furrowed into a stern glare. "You shouldn't have risked yourself in this storm, though! What were you thinking?"

Silas grunted at the assault of my pointer finger. "Family First," he answered. "That, and Mr. Blackbourne told me to."

Okay, so I had little grounds to argue against a direct order from Mr. Blackbourne.

Silas gathered me close to him again, tucking my head under his chin. His chest rumbled as he spoke. "There wasn't really much to do with the flooding until it's over. With the area soaked already, people already know not to drive. Those in low areas still have sandbags set up or are staying someplace else. Nothing exciting was happening. I was getting bored."

"How did you get here?" I asked, relaxing back into his body heat.

"I wasn't joking abut having a rowboat ready," he replied. I could feel his smile against my scalp. "Mr. B helped paddle." His long and thick arms stretched forward with me between them, and then his hands flopped up and down at the wrists. "Great workout."

I giggled. "Where's your boat now?"

"Tied off to Dr. Green's rear axle."

My eyes blinked repeatedly. I didn't know what to think, how to react, or what to say to that. Imagining a rowboat tethered to Dr. Green's dark sedan just didn't seem realistic, but I knew that Silas wasn't joking.

Several moments of silence passed. Both of us were lost in our own thoughts. I realized I was pushing my lip against my teeth when Silas spoke. "What's the best way to hide an elephant?" he asked me.

I looked up at his face, but could only see his jaw stubbled with dark whiskers. "I don't know."

"In a jar of jelly beans," he answered in his usual deadpan joke-telling voice. I didn't understand. This joke didn't make sense like his other ones did.

He continued on. "Have you ever seen an elephant in a jar of jelly beans?"

I shook my head back and forth. "No."

"See?" he said. "It works."

My laughter rang out and echoed back to us from the wide and bare wall of the hall. The joke was funny in its own right, but the way he delivered it added a whole new level of hilarity. The humor was just what I needed after an emotionally exhausting day.

"I like your laugh," Silas said.

"I like laughing at your jokes," I replied.

His arms squeezed me for a second. "I was worried about you."

A quiet sigh escaped me. "Worry about Dr. Green. Not me."

Silas shrugged. "Someone needs to worry about you too. You're involved, and it is affecting you."

My cheeks heated. "How can you tell?"

His thumb, hardened with a callous, came up to my mouth and lightly touched my lower lip. "You are chewing."

Half of the time, I didn't realize I was messing with my mouth when I was nervous. The boys never failed to notice, as Silas did now.

I was tired. Not physically, but emotionally. Bottling it all up to myself was taxing. I wanted to talk about the situation with Silas, but the words failed me. He already knew the gist of what was going on anyways, since he was in the room when I gave my half of the story to Mr. Blackbourne. What more could I say?

"Does she know?" Silas asked, seeming to know what I wanted.

I shook my head back and forth.

He took in and released a big breath. "This is hard. There is no right answer, at least that I can see."

That's exactly how I felt. From this point, I didn't know where to go, or what to do. "We're wrong if we tell her. We're bad guys if we do tell her."

"Mr. Blackbourne will sort it out. He always does," he said with surety.

Dr. Green was counting on the same thing, even to the point of humbling himself to try and call for him in the midst of this storm. "You have a lot of faith in Mr. Blackbourne," I observed, meaning it both for Silas and Dr. Green too. All of the boys had unshakeable faith in him.

Silas took a few seconds before replying. "He's proven it before. He sorted North out. He sorted me out, and there were no right answers there either. He went all the way to Greece for me. It took lots of change. Big changes, but it needed to happen. There will be changes now, too, with Dr. Green, but it's the right thing."

Changes. He had a point. Dr. Green's life was certainly going to be different after today. My mind went off on a tangent of self-reflection, wondering just how much my own life has changed since meeting all nine of my boys. Moving to South Carolina in itself was a big change of scenery, but my home life would have most likely stayed pretty much the same. I'd be isolated from people and subject to the weirdness of my step-mother and her punishments. Now, I knew more people than I had fingers and toes, and each week I was discovering something or someplace new. My life was an adventure these days with breaking into houses in the dead of night, evading stalkers and car tails, being kidnapped once, and other exhilarating things. Yes, some of these changes were dangerous, but I still adamantly labeled them as good things to me. I'd rather be facing this fire beside my Academy boys than being stuck in my room for the rest of my teenage years.

My butt vibrated, making both Silas and me stiffen.

"Is that your phone, or mine?" Silas asked me.

My phone was in my bra. "It has to be yours," I answered.

As he reached to dig through his hip pocket, I slipped away to sit on his knees to grant him better access. I watched his eyes, his irises as dark as his pupils in the indoor lighting, as he read the screen. "Mr. Blackbourne needs us back in the office."

As much as I had been running around this hospital all day long, the floorplan better be branded into my memory for the rest of my life. There was no longer an excuse for me to get lost within the maze-like and winding halls. I hopped off Silas's knees and pulled on his hand to help him stand. Not caring who saw us, I held onto his arm as we made our way back to the elevators and the basement level.

The room we had left not that long ago now had Dr. Pickett, along with Dr. Green and Mr. Blackbourne. Mr. Blackbourne was back into the suit and tie I was accustomed to seeing him in, even if the tie was purple. Dr. Green's expression was neutral. I couldn't tell if he was feeling good or bad.

After the door closed, Mr. Blackbourne nodded to Silas and me. "We now have a plan on how to proceed," he told us. "However, for it to work, I need to ask a favor of you, Miss Sorenson."

I stepped forward toward the three men, nodding vigorously. "I'll do anything to help,"

An approving, millimeter smile graced the corner of Mr. Blackbourne's lips before he looked to Silas. A similar question was asked without words.

"I'm willing," Silas responded from right behind me.

Dr. Green beckoned for everyone to sit to start the discussion to bring Silas and me into their plan. Dr. Pickett sat in a chair across from where Silas, Dr. Green, and I settled. Mr. Blackbourne opted to keep standing and paced back and forth in front of the filing cabinet.

"I hate to put the responsibility on your shoulders," Mr. Blackbourne said to me, "but the success of this plan is entirely up to you."


End file.
